Leerone deserves some much needed attention. For starters, she's easily the nicest artist who's contacted me over the years; she sent me a Valentines Day card last month! Not to mention she's got one heck of a cool website. Plus, she evenblogs and tweets. How tech-savvy. And, oh yeah, she's awfully gorgeous and wonderfully talented to boot. Check out her Claire Carré directed video for "To Fill the Void" ASAP.

The Silversun Pickups have a new single out, "Panic Switch," which channels Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, and latter day New Order. Their upcoming album, Swoon, is due out April 14th on Dangerbird Records. 

Silversun Pickups - "Panic Switch" (Radio Edit) 

OR

Stream the album version here.

Phoenix's latest gift to the world, Mozart Amadeus Phoenix is perhaps their greatest achievement to date. In the very least, it's quickly becoming my favorite album this year. Check out their latest damned catchy single:

Phoenix - '1901'

If the White Stripes and Raconteurs weren't enough to keep Jack White busy, the guitar god has wrangled up another supergroup, the Dead Weathers. The group consists of Allison Mosshart (of the Kills), Jack Lawrence (Raconteurs), Dan Fertita (Raconteurs, Queens of the Stone Age) and, of course, Jack White. But here's the kicker: Jack White has traded in his ax for the drums, though he does add to the band vocally. The Group made their live debut at the opening of White's new label, Third Man Records. Their debut album, Horehound is out in June.

During an interview with MTV, Death Cab for Cutie bassist Nick Harmer announced the band will be releasing an EP of odds and ends left over from the Narrow Stairs sessions. The tentative title for the disk: The Open Door EP. The album is said to include an alternate version of "Talking Bird," originally written on Ukulele by Mr. Gibbard. Here's what Harmer had to say about it:

"When we finished Narrow Stairs, there were four extra songs that, because we were trying to put together an album, we ended up not including them. It's not like they're castoffs or anything; they're part of the Narrow Stairs experience. They needed to have a proper home, and the EP is it ... It'll be out this year, I think."

Last night, Lykke Li performed on Carson Daily. Now that Jimmy Fallon's taken a frontseat I'm thinking Daily is trying to earn some street cred. He'll always be a TRL VJ/Tara Reid dating 15-minute of fame celeb to me. Regardless, check out videos of 'Little Bit' and 'I'm Good, I'm Gone'.

Ray LaMontagne brought down the house last night with shiver inducing renditions of 'You Are the Best Thing' and 'Trouble' on Saturday Night Live, last night. I haven't really kept tabs on LaMontagne since his Trouble album, so I was blown away when I caught this Motown-inspired number. It's as if Otis Redding's been reincarnated into Cat Steven's body. I'd love to see this guy ditch the guitar and front a soul band. -Hips

(open video of 'You are the Best Thing' Live on SNL)

The title pretty much speaks for itself. The lovely St. Vincent is putting out a new album, Actor, May 4th. Here's a sneak peak at her latest efforts. 

St. Vincent - "The Strangers"

The 80's rockers Depeche Mode are hitting the road this summer, enlistening the sunny tunes of Peter Bjorn & John. Maybe a bit of an odd pick, but it'll give the indie one hit wonder some more new exposure, which'll be great for their up-coming release, Living Thing which comes out the end of this month.

Here's when they'll be playing together:
07-28 Washington, DC - Nissan Pavilion
07-31 Boston, MA - Comcast (Great Woods)
08-01 Atlantic City, NJ - Borgata
08-03 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
08-10 Seattle, WA - Key Arena
08-12 San Francisco, CA - Shoreline Amphitheater
08-14 San Diego, CA - Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
08-16 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
08-17 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl
08-20 Santa Barbara, CA - County Bowl
08-22 Las Vegas, NV - Pearl Concert Theater
08-23 Phoenix, AZ - U.S. Airways Center
08-25 Salt Lake City, UT - E Center
08-27 Denver, CO - Red Rocks
08-29 Dallas, TX - Superpages
08-30 Houston, TX - Woodlands Pavilion
09-01 Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheater
09-04 Tampa, FL - Ford Amphitheater
09-05 Ft. Lauderdale, FL - BankAtlantic Center

Britney Spears has been known to grab attention from time to time, whether it be her first Rolling Stone cover, her faux-nude outfit at the VMA's, or her panty-less masquerades. Her latest Circus tour is no exception. A 2-minute video preview of the tour reveals, flashy choreography, a variety of costumes, and...nipple tassels? Whatever puts food on your plate, I guess. Watch the questionably NSFW video here