Whitey is a bit of a mystery man. With two full albums and a MySpace page, the Briton is primed to take over your local dancefloor.

Having released “The Light At The End of The Tunnel Is A Train” last year, Whitey managed to give us an idea of what his aesthetic is. The best way to describe said aesthetic is music underlined by dark, heavy and complex beats highlighted with a light attitude, mainly though his vocals; this reads pretty stale and broad, but it’s accurate.

The description rings truest with his latest work, “Great Shakes.” You get all of Whitey’s dimensions emphasized at one point or another: the guitarist, the lyricist, the synth-seducer. His second coming is really his strongest. “Great Shakes” has excellent production value and genius melodies, each of which is relatively easy to find in most albums, but rarely both.

Whitey is actually one of the few musically unique acts to recently pop up in the limelight. You know that old commerical: “You got CHOCOLATE in my peanut butter!” “You got PEANUT BUTTER on my chocolate!” Well, substitute “chocolate” for “rock” and “peanut butter” for “electro,” and congratualtions: you’ve got yourself a Whitey.

Featured Song: “Cigarette” by Whitey

Featured Song: “Sweet Words For The Sour” by Whitey

Featured Song: “Wrap It Up” by Whitey

They like to graze.
Well, it seems recent Portland-based musical exports are more abundant than we thought. Busier and exponentially diverse, at that. Let’s take a gander at Blitzen Trapper.

“Wild Mountain Nation,” Blitzen Trappers’ third full-length album, is overflowing with experimentation. In what can only be described as an alt-country-indie-rock explosion, the band is most easily compared to early Beck and late(r) Flaming Lips. Yeah, yeah; we hear it too. But aside from the requisite generic indie rock comparison, “Wild Mountain Nation” is fierce. It fluctuates between psychedelic, sweet, twangy, rocking and extravagant, but always weird (in a digestible way).

The six piece, most of which is originally from Salem, Oregon, recently signed to Sub Pop Records and plans to release two more records with the indie label.

Anyway, you have to give props to a band that gives the banjo the respect it deserves.

Featured Song: “Devil’s A-Go-Go” by Blitzen Trapper

Featured Song: “Miss Spiritual Tramp” by Blitzen Trapper

Featured Video: “Devil’s A-Go-Go” by Blitzen Trapper

They’ve been Glass Candy and the Shattered Theatre and they’ve downsized from a three piece with a drummer to the often used (and equally ridiculed) male instrumentalist with lead female on vocals. Glass Candy is Ida No and Houston-raised Johnny Jewel, and that’s just how we like it.

The band, throughout its various incarnations have built up a reputation for evolution. They originally burst into the musical collective consciousness with their surreal disco-inspired cover of “Iko Iko” (performed most notably by The Dixie Cups, then covered by The Belle Stars; long live the “Rainman” soundtrack.) Ida and Johnny recently revisited their breakthrough song, sampling the infamous Geto Boys’ “Mind Playing Tricks on Me.”

As one of the newfound pioneers of Italo disco, Glass Candy have also contributed to nascent record label Italians Do It Better and its compilation CD-R, “After Dark.” The album showcases an incredible list of electro-inspired tracks, including The Chromatics and (actual Italians) Mirage. Glass Candy, however, is fantastic in the mix. “Rolling In The Hills” and “Miss Broadway” are Ida and Johnny at their best (so far).

Featured Song: “Iko (Geto Boys Demo)” by Glass Candy (Download).

Featured Song: “Rolling Down The Hills” by Glass Candy (Download).

More maniacal Monday music after the jump…
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The world at large thinks of three things when it comes to music from Houston, Texas: Destiny’s Child, Lyle Lovett and ZZ Top. Well, okay. Maybe just Destiny’s Child.

But you, dear reader, being the well-informed renaissance person that you are, know better, don’t you? You already know about The Mathletes, and now you’re about to learn about The Dimes.

Hailing from West Houston, the land of grossely similar home developments, spawls of franchises and the densest collection of SUVs per capita, The Dimes is the union of then-high school friends Carlos Sanchez (vocals/guitar), Cley Miller (guitar), Iram Guerrero (drums) and Jose Sanchez (bass), who came to together in 2004. Together, they’ve managed to create a sound not unlike The Pixies, who they’re routinely compared to. Harnessing one of the strongest rhythm sections in Houston, their sound is raw but completely focused. Maybe that’s why they’ve already opened for the likes of 120 Days, Ratatat and Tapes ‘N’ Tapes (who sported one of the nifty Dimes shirts at Coachella.)

The band officially released their “Animal” EP last year, and are in the studio working on a full-length. They do a show here and there, two of which are the weekend of the 19th in Houston, I’m told. If you can’t catch them live just yet, distract yourself with their first video for the “Delilah” single:

Yes, The Dimes are poised to take over the world before they can even legally drink. We submit to their awesomeness.

Featured Song - “Teenage Sex,” by The Dimes
Featured Song - “Delilah,” by The Dimes

(EDITOR’S NOTE: If you ever catch them live and they take requests, scream out “Psycho Killer.” Actually, do it even if they don’t take requests.)