Few people generate so much power with so little, but all singer/songwriter Scout Niblett needs is an electric guitar and her rip roaring vocals to knock you for a loop. Her style is simple; a pounding riff, some unbelievably expressive lyrics, repeat. It’s a formula for one of the most commanding presences in music today, and one that surely won’t remain under the radar for long

Emma Louise Niblett was born in Staffordshire County in England, where she grew up learning the piano and violin at a young age. In college Niblett began pursuing performance art before picking up a guitar and writing songs. Inspired by Kurt Cobain’s raw power, she adopted the stage name Scout, in homage to the character in To Kill a Mockingbird, and began writing minimalistic, though emotionally packed songs.

Teaching herself the guitar and eventually drums as well, Niblett moved to the U.S. where she began releasing albums in 2001 and recording with legendary producer Steve Albini (Pixies, Nirvana, the Stooges) in 2005, a partnership that remains today. Her latest album, The Calcination of Scout Niblett (Drag City), is a work of refinement, though it still sports her single instrument approach and plenty of reverb. The tone of the album is as somber as ever, filled with mood, angst, and a journey that ultimately is about personal growth. When inspired to write, this songwriter composes some of the most pure, and emotive music out there. Outdoing Chan Marshall’s plaintive cries by far, Niblett’s crashing vocals play heartwrenchingly over often simple, but haunting riffs on her electric guitar. Sometimes her voice soars over only drums, a minimalist and immediate style that captures your ear and racks your brain.

Where you can find her in cyberspace:

MySpace

Wikipedia

Dragcity.com

On Tour:

JamBase

Scout Niblett plays the Noise Pop Festival on Thursday February 25th at the Cafe du Nord.  Buy tickets HERE

One thing is clear about Bradford Cox: the man is a music obsessive. Whether promoting artists through his self-released mixes, churning out tracks of his own with bands Deerhunter and Atlas Sound, or playing countless shows each year, Cox’s life is one immersed in sound. His energy is abundant and infectious, resulting most recently in Logos, perhaps his most interesting artifact yet.

Athens-born Bradford Cox is a freak of a man, often eccentrically-costumed and always preternaturally thin (as the result of Marfan syndrome). He’s also a gifted and prolific songwriter, whose output cannot be contained by one band alone. Atlas Sound is his “solo gig”—a project born in the wake of a self-imposed hiatus from his experimental noise band, Deerhunter.

Atlas Sound’s second album, Logos, was almost abandoned after an unfinished version prematurely leaked from Cox’s MediaFire account. Now, Cox has been known to willfully release exclusive songs through his blog, but this was an accidental—and devastating—ooze. Luckily, he soldiered on to complete the work, buoyed by excellent vocal contributions from Stereolab’s Laetita Sadler and Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox (aka Panda Bear).

Logos is full of lucid, joyful concoctions: a culmination of a lifetime spent culling LPs from dusty stacks. Its tracks gleefully pile up layers of electronics and guitars and hazy vocals, meandering from dreamy shoegaze to rock bliss. Standout cuts like “Walkabout” and “Sheila” marry 60s pop confection with Lilys-inspired indie psychedelia. With Logos, Cox has artfully constructed one of 2009’s best listens: a heart-felt tribute to the music he loves.

Atlas Sound plays the Noise Pop Festival on Friday February 26th at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco.  Tickets are on sale HERE

This Southern California folk rock quartet is young… high school young, and yet they write songs that are filled with such maturity and wit, it’s hard not to label them as prodigies. They’ve just signed to Sub Pop and are working on their debut record.

Avi Buffalo revolves around one person, the singer, songwriter and guitar player of the group, Avigdor Zahner-Isenber. This 18 year old Long Beach Native was introduced to the professional music world at the age of 13, when he fell under the tutelage of a local seasoned blues man, Joel Weinberg… think Lisa Simpson meets Bleeding Gums Murphy.  After three years of showing the tween Avigodor how to play and perform, the young upstart began recording at home. He mined the traumas of high school romance to fuel his songwriting, and eventually collected an ensemble of like-minded musicians to fill out the sound.

They’ve only been on one tour, up to Seattle and back; however they’ve garnered a lot of attention with their remarkably catchy songs and virtuoso playing. There will undoubtedly be backlash against their hype, as a result of their age; however, once you give the music an honest listen it’s going to be hard to refute that this is a talented and capable band. If you want to get in on a good investment early, check out Avi Buffalo and watch how they grow.

Avi Buffalo plays the Noise Pop Festival on February 27th at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco.  Tickets are on sale here