Fort Knox Five is a four-piece dub/funk/dance band from DC. They make me think of a funkier version of Thievery Corporation.

The four guys behind the band are Sid Barcelona, Jon Horvath, Rob Myers and Steve Raskin.

I’ve been listening to their stuff non-stop for the last two weeks. There’s also a remix version of their album Radio Free DC, which is top notch.

For some free downloads, here are three of their songs:

As the expression goes, ‘If that right ain’t shit, then I don’t want to wrong shit.’ Or something like that…

The Books are an indie rock band, originally formed in New York City, but that is currently residing in North Adams Massachusetts. They consist of two guy – Nick Zumato who plays guitar and bass, and Cellist Paul De Jong.

They mix folk and electronica beautifully, particularly in this jam, one of their more up tempo ones.

I’d indifferently recommend to check out all of their music.

And I thought John Butler’s performance of Ocean was spectacular. Though John Butler’s performance brings a bit more emotion in my opinion, Erik Mongrain makes a six-string acoustic guitar sound like anything but. I’m assuming he uses some kind of pickup, but other than that, it’s just a standard six string, same as any musically-ambitious 15 year old has in his or her bedroom.

Erik’s style is referred to as lap-tapping. He’s influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and Jean Sebastian Bach. No, not Sebastian Bach of Skid Row, but Jean Sebastian Bach, the Baroque classical composer. Now that I think about it, Erik’s sound isn’t that far off from a cross between Baroque melodies and heavy rock and alternative rock rhythms.

This is the single most exciting/inspiring solo live performance I have ever seen, both live or on YouTube. All three times that I’ve seen John Butler Trio, he has played this song, with the lights dimmed and with the spotlight on him only. Other members of his band bring solid individual performances as well, but for me, this song has always been the highlight of his set.

YouTube has counted over 2.5 Million views of this song, and I probably account for 35 of those, half of which the day before I saw him live for the third time.

For people who want to open tune their 12 strings, tune it as follows: C-G-C-G-C-E. You end up tuning down all the string except for the B string which you tune up half a step.