Unheard-of music

Luke, acting as my emissary into the world of good music I would otherwise never hear, turned me on to some MP3 blogs a while back, and I've heard some good stuff as a result. In the last few days it's been particularly good, at least to my ears. For example:

Common - Political rap from an artist who is apparently at fame's doorstep but not quite inside, with some help from Scarface and Mos Def. I'd like to hear more rap like this. Rap needs to be the new punk, a place where people can fight the system. I know underground hip hop has been doing it for years, but everybody's still caught up in the gangsta and rap-pop fever of the '90s when it comes to the mainstream. [via aurgasm]

PINE*am - I would never think I could particularly like Japanese pop, but something about this song just works really well. It's addicting. I think it's like audio crack. [via music (for robots)]

Imogen Heap - Come on, everybody likes that Frou Frou song from the Garden State soundtrack. This is some of the singer's solo work, and it's a little less slick and produced but equally nice on the ears. Her voice seems to be somewhere between Fiona Apple and Shirley Manson, which is good if you ask me. [via Womenfolk]

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