After spending a few weeks updating the software and coding 2000 songs for the online station, we were finally able to re-launch Y100Rocks.com v2.0... and then open the mail! And lo and behold - there was a whole bunch of new music waiting for us! Not just the obvious stuff like new singles from the White Stripes and Foo Fighters and Coldplay, but a lot of little gems - the kind of things that might have gone by the wayside in the past (or be relegated to Y-Not airplay only) but now has the chance to fly onto the Y100rocks.com airwaves (or, datastreams?). Here's a little synopsis of some of the new schtuufff:

Mike Doughty - the former Soul Coughing frontman returns with his first "rock band" album in 5 years... and it's great! Produced by former Semisonic frontman Dan Wilson, Doughty manages to strike a balance between catchy choruses and inventive wordplay. We're been playing "Bustin' Up a Starbucks" and the first single "Looking at the World from teh Bottom of a Well" but will soon also start dipping into "Tremendous Brunettes," a duet with new ATO Records label 'boss' Dave Matthews.

Jonathan Rice - I'm not really a Dave Matthews fan, but here I go with my second reference to the pride of Charlottesville. I know very little about Jonathan Rice, except that his vocals remind me every second of Dave, and that this album was recorded by Mike Mogis. No, really? What does that mean? Well, Mogis is kind of the head audio guy behind the entire Omaha / Saddle Creek Records scene - having produced bands like Bright Eyes, Cursive, and Rilo Kiley over the past few years. So while the voice may sounds like Dave (or maybe a bit of Jack Johnson's laid back, raspy surfer?), the production and songs on the album are what separates it from the pack. Inventive use of strings, unique guitar sounds, and songs that build and build - it's one of those albums where the first few tunes seem to be the obvious ones front loaded to appeal to radio, then the meat of the album kicks in and the really great moments hit. The first time I played the album, I was close to pulling it off the CD player several times, but something kept me going... and then rewarded me. By the time you get to the string laden "My Mother's Son" I was totally into this album.

Aqualung - A few months back my friend (and former Y100 Marketing Director) Kelly Gross told me about her latest britpop obsession - Aqualung, and the song "Brighter Than Sunshine." And damnit - she was dead on right. Brilliant! Massive! This song is gorgeous, and I think it's my spring theme for every nice day (that or Ben Lee's "Catch My Disease" - another classic weather-is-breaking jam) from now till July. GO HEAR THIS SONG! Oh wait, just listen to www.y100rocks.com, cause we're gonna play it a lot over the next few weeks. Whereas I heard Keane and initially thought - 'what's the big deal? It's a Travis clone...' when I first got Aqualung, it immediately carved a new niche in my mind - similar to Keane or Snow Patrol or Coldplay, but one all it's own. I'm sure it won't be long before I'm going, 'yeah, sounds like the next Aqualung' and they will cross over to the genre-namer, rather than derivative genre-taker.

Nouvelle Vague - Some French freaks taking late '70s / early '80s New Wave songs and applying a Bossa Nova meets Air approach to remaking them? I'm in. We've been playing my favorites - covers of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and the Clash's "Guns of Brixton," but if you pick up the entire album you can groove to songs by the Cure, Modern English, Dead Kennedys, Depeche Mode, XTC, and more. It's the perfect CD for the 5-disc changer at your next faux swanky cocktail party. Dig it, oui?

Jim