Now, Message of the Blues has released an album, Da Illist [sic], through iTunes. Interestingly, according to iTunes, MotB is signed to the label started by No Doubt, Beacon Street Records (which, of course, has no website).

Here’s the aforementioned “L.A.” Keep in mind the rest of their music is much bluesier than this song, but be sure to check them out on iTunes.

Message of the Blues – L.A.

Every once and a while, I stumble across an artist who is truly electrifying; one that I feel compelled to share with anyone who will listen. Janelle Monáe is one such artist. After making a splash with guest appearances on Big Boi’s Got Purp? Vol. 2 compilation and Outkast’s Idlewild soundtrack, Monáe released Metropolis: The Chase Suite through her own independent label, The Wondaland Arts Society.

Inspired by the 1927 sci-fi film classic Metropolis, Monáe’s Chase Suite tells the story of a female android (Monáe’s alter ego, Cindi Mayweather) who is targeted for extermination after falling in love with a human. The futuristic backdrop provides a fictitious framework for Monáe to poke at social issues without seeming didactic. The Chase Suite is a short, 5-track affair, designed to be the first of four suites released every few months, which together complete the entire Metropolis story.

Shortly after The Chase Suite was released in late 2007, Monáe signed to Sean Combs’s Bad Boy Records (ugh), where she was supposedly given a blank check and full creative control (hmm… maybe Diddy’s not so bad after all?) A special edition re-release of The Chase Suite with two extra tracks dropped this August, but the other three planned suites are still M.I.A., nearly a year after the original’s release. (What happened to that ‘every few months’ thing, Janelle?!)

Below is the newly-released video for the outstanding track “Many Moons”, which further expands upon the chic futureworld Monáe has created for her sci-fi tetralogy. I’m going on record declaring “Many Moons” my favorite video of the year.

Janelle Monáe – “Many Moons”

Adding credence to the argument that perhaps the entirety of Canada is the new Pacific Northwest when it comes to birthing great indie rock acts, I present British Columbia’s Mother Mother. A cross between label mates The New Pornographers and the legendary Pixies (Dolittle-era on “O My Heart” and Bossanova-era on “Body of Years”), this quintet is currently touring fresh off the release of their sophomore album, O My Heart. Don’t let the emo music video for the album’s title track turn you off; O My Heart is exceptional.