It seems that no-one has heard of Beirut (actually one guy, Zach Condon) who I think started releasing stuff while in High School. I think he is godlike - his first two albums are just glorious stuff. A mixture of pop. eastern european folk, mariachi trumpets and electronica sensibilities.
It is just beautiful listening.
I think he will be huge in a few years so find them/him now.
Your tips are…
En Duo by Dawn Tyler Watson and Paul Deslauriers. Samples on the website. I heard “Wiggly Fingers”, a Patty Griffin cover, played on CBC radio as I was driving home one night, and it was one of those scramble-for-a-pen-and scrap-of-paper and they-better-repeat-the-artists’-names-or-I’ll-kill-them-moments. I did scribble down Dawn’s name, and eventually heard another track played when I was home one day. Immediately Googled, found, and ordered.
I love this record. The combination of a fantastic, supple, bluesy, warm, rich voice, and an awesome guitar talent… All it is is two voices and a guitar or two, and wow. There is a nice variety of music, from dirty blues, to folky stuff, to a song simply called “Why” that brings me to tears to listen to. Some unexpected covers and originals.
So if you like blues, acoustic music, vocals… If you like good music, give this CD a try.
I love pimping stuff that isn’t ubiquitous on the radio and TV.
Meiko, just listen to her Reasons to Love You, (and the rest of her album on that page) you’ll see why I recommend her. I also recommend Atahualpa, (the band, not the person) they are quite good IMO. They are Quechua/Kichwa/Incan from the Andes. Try to get Atahualpa - Ritmo y Sabor if you can, I own the album. It’s very good. Note: Their site seems to be down at the moment, but you can try a search for atahualpa-music.com to try to find it. ETA: I have a mailing address for the band leader, PM me if you want it. It’s on the album.
Failing those, try Chiasm, (if you played VtM: Bloodlines you’ll recognize her song Isolated.) Norihaus, (Imagination, Borrowed Wings, Devastation One all are good.) or Ikarus.
Bleh, saw the typo well outside the edit window. :o That should be Noirhaus.
Are those bands like Chiasm? I have a dozen or so tracks by them and like what I’ve heard.
I’ve no suggestions for the OP 'cause I don’t buy albums and almost always download piecemeal but I heartilty recommend Sarah Fimm, Jesca Hoop, and The Romanovs as artists in general. There’re links to threads about each in my profile and more links contained within those threads.
I linked to Noirhaus and Ikarus’ MySpace pages, go listen. 
You’ll probably like Noirhaus, Chiasm and Noirhuas have friended each other on MySpace. 
Ikarus you might like if you sometimes want “chill out” World Music. He’s a “sound recorder” like Deep Forest.
I’m at work so no MySpace.
By sound recorder, do you mean ambient?
Sort of, and I brainfarted and mis-spoke. The proper phrase is sound reporter. Here is a link to Ikarus’ biography page from his official site. The music doesn’t automatically play. Check out this thread when you get home so you can listen to the various things I gave the nod to? (Noirhaus sort of has a Depeche Mode feel at times, but also a Chris Vrenna American McGee’s Alice soundtrack feel in Borrowed Wings as well, you just have to hear his style.)
I like Depeche Mode as well so I’m guessing I’ll like him if he’s similar to both them and Chiasm. Will definitely check them out and try to get back to you about them.
I think you might like The Romanovs based on those bands, by the way. They’ve got a similar feel, if not similiar music.
He’s like Chiasm in that he’s Gothic/electro. They both experiement in the same areas, but each has their own flair. Chiasm is more ass-kicky/rawr while Noirhaus is closer to Depeche Mode in musical mood. You’ll still like him.
Soulive @ The Stockholm Jazz Festival. My cousin tipped me off to the band on Thanksgiving and I’ve listened to this show pretty much every day since then. I cannot recommend it enough, and what’s more you can stream it for free from the Internet Archive link provided (though I’d click on the link to stream it from winamp or Itunes rather than the site’s 64kbps player).
They’re a soul/jazz drum, organ, guitar trio (with a trumpeter and saxophonist who aren’t officially part of the band but seem to play with them a whole lot). Really tight, and lacking in masturbatory 10 minute solos.
For the slightly more adventurous, Afroskull @ The Parkside Lounge. It’s New Orleans funk, so you’re either going to love it or hate it.
I just wanted to say thanks for that one! I went to the web site, listened to two tracks, and immediately went to eMusic and downloaded the CD. So far, it’s tremendous.
Beirut has done magnificently on the critical level and is immensely popular. I think it’s immediately forgettable and mediocre, but that’s what I get for loving music.
Well, what’d you think? Did you like 'em at all? 
Sorry. Kinda forgot. I get off in half an hour and have tomorrow off so I’ll be sure to look into them tonight and will be emailing myself the link to this thread after hitting reply.
Just started listening to Ikarus and like what I hear so far. I’d just been listening to “Persephone” by Cocteau Twins before loading their page and would say they’re roughly similar.
Will report back later on Noirhaus and also Ikarus if my opinion changes.
He (Ikarus/Wolfgang Stindl) did that song for the Matrix Revisited special, the one they play when they show the “rain on the dancefloor” scene? That’s him. The song (Used in the Matrix Revisited special) is Praying To Different Gods. ETA: You can hear a soundclip of the song here. I LOVE Ancient Lullaby from that album.
Also, check out Chiasm’s site, and her MySpace page which she links to there. She has put out some really amazing songs since I’ve found her page. The songs: Hello, Prefrontal, Help Me, A Girl Called Harmony, Chosen Fate, Enemy, and I think one titled Murder are all EXCELLENT. (It’s been a while since she had that song up, she switches songs fairly often on her page, as the whimsy takes her. I think it might be part of her upcoming album because I cannot find mention of it on her site either.) If you haven’t picked up her virtual single Prefrontal yet, do so! She did a collaboration with BioMod, the song Wave has her vocalizations on it, and the Chiasm mix of Seed is good too. Did I mention she’s a molecular biologist, studying vision? ETA: You can hear Chiasm’s Hello on her electrogarden page here.
The Bird and the Bee has an immensely moving (strange to say) version of the Bee Gee’s “How Deep is Your Love?” out recently.