Best Of SXSW A-Z: "N"

A famous dead person once said "You can tell a lot about one by the company one keeps". Or something like that. Jason Chung, otherwise known as Nosaj Thing, has shared the stage with Flying Lotus, Daedelus, Architecture in Helsinki, DJ Krush, and many others. He recently won Turntable Lab's remix competition featuring MF DOOM. If you like any or all of the above mentioned bands, you're likely to enjoy Nosaj Thing's thing - squelchy electronica, with beats and blips.

MP3: Nosaj Thing - 1685


The Nouvellas are a new-soul group fronted by Jaime Kozyra and Leah Fishman, backed by a three-piece band, and all five are from the recently broken-up band Dansettes. Those with a keener ear will have heard Jaime & Leah contributing vocals to recordings of that other new-soul band of the year, Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. If you like them, you'll be sure to like this.

MP3: The Nouvellas - Satisfied


Personally, I'm really glad that the music world seems past the infatuation it once had with acoustic singer/songwriters - I never got onto the Ben Harper/Jack Johnson bandwagon; at times, it seemed to me they were essentially one and the same. That said, Toronto's Justin Nozuka takes acoustic pop, adds soulful vocals and a catchy chorus, and comes up with something palatable. I guess that's a backhanded compliment, but it's a compliment nonetheless.

MP3: Justin Nozuka - Golden Train