Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar. All bands this week featured in our Standout section are from the Bay Area.

Standouts:
1. Arp - In Light: Pop minimalism aren't two words that aren't often placed in the same sentence, let alone right next to each other, but Arp, based out of San Francisco, has fused pop and minimalism together to something organic and exciting. Also categorized as "natural electronic music," Arp has also bridged these two worlds together by recording his music live with very few pre-recorded loops.

Arp, the brain-child of Alexis Georgopoulos, is mood-shifting without the listener even realizing it. It calms and soothes through the intricate repetitive looping that is often reserved to high-energy dance-floor music. It seems that this is the album that you want to listen to after going out to the club; the calm after the storm.
Download: "St. Tropez" and "Potentialities"

Win a free copy of Arp's new CD here:

For more info on other CD releases, another CD giveaway and our new non-guilty pleasure, take the jump...

2. Oslo - The Rise and Fall of Love and Hate: Hailing from Oakland and L.A., Oslo has been receiving critical acclaim since they released their debut album back in 2005 (independent of a label). We understand why. The repeated guitar eighth notes in the title song sounds very reminiscent to U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name." They use this technique (repeated eighth notes) throughout several songs. Oslo has created a sophomore CD that hints at the past without forgetting the future.
Download: "The Rise and Fall of Love and Hate" and "Slowdive"

3. Minipop - A New Hope: Coming off strong from their CD release party (and it was a party!) on Saturday night, Minipop's sugary sweet pop music is a breath of fresh air when compared to other sugar pop music. Minipop does not use high fructose corn syrup to sweeten, rather they use organic forest honey - it's rich, intoxicating and subtly sweet.
Download: "Like I Do" and "Wearing Thin"

Bands Going Live:
1. Ricky Martin - Live Black and White Tour: The 2006 Latin Person of the Year, Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF and Grammy award winner is releasing a live album. We haven't purchased one of his records since 1999 but hey who can't live without the live version of "Livin' La Vida Loca"? (Probably us.)

2. Five For Fighting - Back Country Live: We actually like this band. The album was recorded at a concert in Orlando, where the band performed hits like "Superman" and "100 Years." Though it's been awhile since we last listened to their album it might be nice to revisit it.

A Touch of Musicals: (Our New Non-Guilty Pleasure)

1. Victoria Clark - Fifteen Seconds to Grace: Tony Award-winner, Victoria Clark is releasing her debut solo album. (You can hear her on several other musical albums though.) We hear that this is "a blend of Broadway standards, contemporary fare, and a few art songs -- fully orchestrated: soulful, bewitching and exhilarating." We can't wait.

2. Jonathan Larson - Jonathan Sings Larson: We've seen RENT three times on Broadway and Tick Tick... BOOM! once when it played Off-Broadway, wrote numerous papers about Larson, memorized every word from both shows and bought every cast recording, music, book and movie that has anything to do with him. We definitely classify ourselves as a RENThead. Now, we get an entire album (some new material even) of Johnathan Larson singing his own music. It can't get any better.

3. Lauren Kennedy - Here and Now: Lauren Kennedy's first CD, Songs of Jason Brown received rave reviews. Her second album, Here Now features music from the newest crop of composers of musical theatre: David Yazbek, Adam Guettel and Frank Wildhorn (to name a few).

Past Hits You Should Know About:
1. Alice Smith - For Lovers, Dreamers & Me: We were quickly introduced to Alice Smith this last week through an email. The minute we went to her website, we were hooked. We had to have her CD - how could we not? Smith's voice is simply intoxicating - sexy and sultry (especially in her chest voice) while still powerful and strong. "New Religion," her latest single, shows off the incredible range that Smith has, plus the song infuses her soulful approach to a pop/rock song - a perfect mix. She reminds us of Toby Lightman, a little Alicia Keys and a more sophisticated Amy Winehouse. We actually couldn't believe we missed this release last week, so to counteract this we are going to give away one of her CD's.
Download: "New Religion" and "Dream"

Enter contest below to win Alice Smith's newest CD, For Lovers, Dreamers & Me.