Cool Hunting

The Lovers
There's nothing like a late night radio discovery. On the brink of sleep Monday, I was jolted wide awake by the witty, sexy, upbeat chansons of The Lovers' lovemaking session on the Rob Da Bank show on Radio 1. A little bit saucy, a little bit kitsch, a little bit tongue-in-cheek and oh so very very French, they make Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin...

Nouvelle Vague: Late Night Tales
Two of Cool Hunting's musical favorites combine here, as Nouvelle Vague become the latest artists to liberate gems from their record collection for the consistently excellent Late Night Tales series. It's a perfect match and unsurprisingly, the record isn't so much laid-back as horizontal. Starting with the falsetto of Jerry Dammers set to the ska of The Special AKA, it floats past Glen Campbell...

Ghostly Swim: Interview with Sam Valenti
For years, Ghostly International, the indie juggernaut of Avant-Pop music, has been redefining the record industry with innovative collaborations and a brand awareness that puts most labels to shame. On 21 April, the fruits of their latest collaborative efforts paid off in the release of "Ghostly Swim", a 19-song compilation made exclusively for Adult Swim and available for free download. The kicker? Ghostly mascots...

Radio Village Nomade
Beginning in May, experimental composers Marie-Claire Brycztwa and Sudhu Tewari will host a seven-month "audio play" called Radio Village Nomade. Broadcast daily from a makeshift village in La Corbière, Switzerland, the 214-day project will feature live performances, as well as audio submissions from sound manipulators the world over. The concept is to let people define for themselves what constitutes a moment in time and...

All My Pretty Ones
All My Pretty Ones are a six-member group from the San Francisco Bay Area. Led by songwriter Derek Schmidt, the band plays richly-orchestrated, folk-influenced music. Songs rely heavily on acoustic guitar and piano, with occasional flourishes from a wide array of instruments like oboe, upright bass, mandolin and glockenspiel. Their debut EP, "Handsbreadth," was released last year and includes five songs combining lighthearted melodies...

The Kiss Off
Though they formed last year in Brooklyn, The Kiss Off could easily pass as Manchester natives from the early '80s. The band was founded by guitarist Adam De Rosa and bassist Nathan Lithgow, who lay distorted melodies over catchy drumming and synth drones. Sam Tyndall's vocals complete the band, which sounds something like a better-produced Joy Division or a more brooding Franz Ferdinand. The...