Rock on Wisconsin

Juiceboxxx – Do U Want 2 Hear It
www.myspace.com/officialjuiceboxxx
Too happy to be ironic and too self-referential to be naive, this DJ/MC specializes in pilfering ultra-cheesy '80s and '90s hip-hop breaks and refashioning them with goofy rhymes. At only 20 years old, there's no reason to doubt Diplo has a competitor waiting in the wings.

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Kid Cut Up – Where Gandhi at D?
www.myspace.com/kidcutup
DJ and turntablist Kid Cut Up does like his moniker: Tear up mainstream and indie hip-hop tracks with an eye on keeping the dance floor moving.

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Leo Minor – Beautiful Fiction
www.myspace.com/leominor
As one half of soul futurists Def Harmonic, you knew Jason Todd had to have more tricks up his sleeve. What's most surprising about his new group Leo Minor, is that their itchy funk and ABC-worthy new wave centers around his self-absorbed, disco-ready, more than convincing pipes.

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Goodnight Loving – Dead Fish on the Banks
www.myspace.com/thegoodnightloving
Careerwise, this new Milwaukee band has a lot to live up to: At year’s end, CMJ lauded their debut album as the top release of 2006. Though their fan base hasn't yet reached much beyond a dedicated Brew City following, the band's homespun, nostalgic-sounding rock numbers and twangy Southern infused ballads are equally capable of inspiring mass sing-alongs during their live sets.

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Plexi 3 – Calculated Romance
www.myspace.com/plexi3
Featuring former members of Kill-A-Watts and Monitors, this female fronted, punky power pop trio churns out frantic, stripped down and infectiously catchy ditties reminiscent of some of the more listener-friendly grrrl bands that poured out of Olympia, Washington in the early 90s.

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Skull Time – Talk About It
www.myspace.com/skulltimemilwaukee
It’s hard to tell if this band’s virulent homage to 70s hard rock a la AC/DC or Judas Priest is sincere flattery or if there isn’t just a tinge of winking-but-affectionate punk rock irony at work. Either way, the wailing, bluesy guitar riffs and barbed wire bass lines give added thrust to singer Christreater’s urgent vocals, which hint at his former incarnation as the singer of Milwaukee garage rock kings, the Mistreaters.

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Codebreaker – Exiled!
www.myspace.com/codebreaker
Giving this duo’s brand new album, Exiled!, a listen is like hopping on a crowded, intergalactic sonic party bus that careens through space under the influence of everyone from Bootsy Collins to Sugar Hill Gang. Just about every dancy style of music gets its due, from disco and new wave to funk and electro. Though a variety of genres could lay claim to the Codebreaker sound, they manage to elegantly dance in, over and around all of them.

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Magic Arrows – Uptown Devils
www.wobblyhead.com
Scott Beschta, aka Magic Arrows, comes from a strong indie rock pedigree that includes playing with proto-emo band the Promise Ring. This project steers far clear of that familiar map, though, instead venturing into post-rock drones, ambient guitar washes, random AM radio samples, and the occasional trance-like chants that advance downward-staring shoe-gazing into even darker and more enigmatic realms. Fans of both Brian Wilson and My Bloody Valentine will relate.

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Jail – Rocker
www.myspace.com/jailjailjailjail
Influenced by Syd Barrett and early Roxy Music, this psychedelic folk rock outfit’s sound meanders flawlessly from simple, groovy 60s flavored pop to folky, melancholy organ-led ballads.

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