After a long hiatus and some considerable urging of Scotty, thought it was time to revive a column we seem to reference a lot, but have not seen a new entry from since mid-March - Better Than Noodling. So with that out of the way, let’s dig in with probably the best music act to come out of the great state of Idaho since Paul Revere & The Raiders (yup I just referenced a band that wore tri-corner hats and dressed in 1770s colonial garb, deal with it) some 40+ years ago - folk singer Josh Ritter.

Besides being a native of the 43rd state, Ritter probably holds the distinction as the only singer/songwriter out there who studied neuroscience, before switching to a self-created major of American History Through Narrative Folk Music. A move I’m sure that probably didn’t sit too well with his parents at first - who both happen be neuroscientists themselves, but has paid dividends in Ritter’s song craft as his work is loaded with literary and historical references. READ ON for more on Ritter’s folk-rock…

Forget about the buzz that has surrounded Vampire Weekend, because if music blogs had existed back in the mid-90s Radish would have become a household name rather then a footnote in the career of Ben Kweller. At the tender age of 15, Kweller and his grunge-based trio found themselves at the center of a major label bidding war - all of whom were looking to sign the next Nirvana (a band they were heavily influenced by, check their video for Pink Little Stars).

Radish eventually landed on Mercury Records, appeared on Conan, Letterman and even The Weird Al Show, but hype doesn’t necessarily led to success and their debut album Restraining Bolt was a commercial flop. The band’s sophomore effort was recorded, but never released and Kweller fled to New York City to pursue a solo career - all this by the age of 19. While many could have easily faded in obscurity, Ben decided to do things his own way and slowly built his solo career from the ground up. Read on to hear more about his slacker-infused indie-pop…

Over the last few years our neighbors to the North have been exporting some of the most buzzed about bands around. So much has been written about these acts, that I won’t waste your time rattling off a laundry list of them. There is one band though that has been greatly overlooked among the art-rock and indie-pop that we’ve been eating up like plates full of poutine (and coincidently happen to be rather huge in their native land) - Sam Roberts Band.

Despite the rather mundane moniker the band has been nominated for multiple Juno awards - Canada’ version of the Grammy’s - for their last two albums; raking in a trifecta of them in 2004 for Artist, Album and Rock Album of the year for their major label debut We Were Born In Flames. While I would normally avoid most things that resemble a radio-friendly mainstream rock band, it’s really hard to not like these guys. So don’t be a hoser and read on eh…

If you obsessively watched MTV anytime during the mid ‘90s there is a good chance you were familiar with Nada Surf and their quirky, spoken word-esque tome to dating and high school life: Popular.

You know, the one that kind of sounded like Weezer’s Sweater Song. Ringing a bell now? Well it was the kind of song that had many thinking they’d just be another one-hit wonder destined to be featured as the punch line on countless VH1 retro shows. Heck their own label even thought that, and dropped them because they didn’t think their follow-up album had another hit song like Popular.

End of story, right? Well not exactly. Nada Surf might have fallen off the collective mainstream music radar for a few years, but they were still hard at work crafting a new sound and recording. It was one of those records – 2003’s critically acclaimed Let Go - that my old roommate insisted I listen to. I instantly latched onto its lush, dreamy indie-pop, and it became the number one album I pushed on friends to make sure they heard too. Keep reading so I can convert you into a fan as well…

You may be well familiar with the bands featured in this section, but Some Dude from Hits from the Blog wants to ensure there’s No Jambandfan Left Behind…

You know how they say that Christopher Columbus didn’t really discover America he just “encountered” it? Well that’s sort of how I feel about how I came to start listening to the music of Okkervil River.

How I can really lay claim to discovering a band that has been releasing albums (and I’m sure touring relentlessly) since late last century? I first encountered this Austin-based act some time last summer when every music reviewer was drooling over their latest offering, The Stage Names, a wordy, bombasticalbum with ruminations on the daily life of someone who happens to be in a rock band.

The reviews piqued my interest, but it wasn’t until I caught their performance on Conan that I knew they’d be my latest musical obsession. The song they played was big, brawny and cluttered with sound; it seemed like they could fall apart at any moment, but somehow lead singer Will Sheff’s vocals came in and tied it all together. Read on after the jump and take a listen to their cinematic tales…

You may be well familiar with the bands featured in this section, but Some Dude from Hits from the Blog wants to ensure there’s No Jambandfan Left Behind…

Being a music blogger you’re generally a few steps ahead of the curve when it comes to discovering new bands. While your friends are talking about how great The National is we’re on to whatever unsigned band Stereogum or Daytrotter are pimping that week. Case in point the band that has been the darlings of music blogs for past eight to ten months: Vampire Weekend.

Odds are you haven’t heard of them, or if you have you may have dismissed them because of their silly faux-Goth sounding name, much the way I did when I first heard of a band called Widespread Panic back in the mid ’90s — raise your hand if you thought they were a metal band too.

The boys of VW had been on a meteoric rise, at least in New York since people got their hands on their self-produced Blue CD-R (not be confused with Weezer’s Blue Album). The Village Voice and the New York Times both profiled them last year. They sold out the Music Hall of Williamsburg in the fall, and tonight and tomorrow they’ll hit the Bowery Ballroom for two sold-out shows — all this based on a three song EP and single; their full-length album hits stores today. So read on to see what their “Upper West Side Soweto” sound is all about…

You may be well familiar with the bands featured in this section, but Some Dude from Hits from the Blog wants to ensure there’s No Jambandfan Left Behind…

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but [insert random singer-songwriter’s name here] is the new Bob Dylan. I swear!

How many times have you seen or heard that weighty comparison thrown around for any number of wordy songsmiths? It’s a lofty and mostly unfair expectation to live up to, considering the profound impact on music of the former Mr. Robert Zimmerman. Who else could have come up with such nuggets like “Jewels and binoculars hang from the head of a mule” or “The sun’s not yellow, it’s chicken” and a) be taken seriously and b) have said lines dissected with a fine-toothed comb, or at the very least a giant Jewfro-pick.

That’s not to say that there aren’t some fine, fine singer-songwriters out there that at the very least are the next Gordon Lightfoot (Canada’s Bob Dylan – Anyone? Anyone? Is this thing on?). While it would be too easy to go with indie-rock pin-up boy Connor Oberst (Bright Eyes for those of you scoring at home), I’ll dig a little deeper. So read on after the jump with me and let’s take a look at someone else that I think deserves your attention: Elvis Perkins.

Face it, hipsters: Nothing beats the peak of a red-hot jam. But many of the jambands left on the scene just don’t do it for Some Dude of Hits from the Blog, so he’s here to coach us on which bands we should turn to for greatness…

Let’s face it, folks, the jamband scene is dead and decomposing. The Fat Man isn’t walking through that door; pre-hiatus Big Red isn’t walking through that door. The bands left in the wake of the once-thriving scene of the late ’90s/early aughts have either hit their ceiling, called it quits or are currently cashing in as glorified cover bands. So as we all wait for the next big thing to violently shake up the scene and make it relevant again, it’s time to broaden our horizons.

While some have resorted to labeling bands “post jam” — sorry, I almost threw up in my mouth after typing that — to sugarcoat it, I’m here to tell you there is no such thing (apologies, Mr. Greenhaus). For something to be post-anything it has have been influenced by its predecessor, and I doubt the members of bands like Wilco and My Morning Jacket were slinging veggie burritos and selling homemade blown glass out of a 1987 Chevy Shitbox in the Phish tour lot.

There are, however, exciting bands out there that should appeal to those of us rooted in classic rock and improvised jamming, groups that have opted to jump head-first into the indie-rock pool like the two mentioned above. So without any further posturing, I’d like to introduce you to the musical stylings of Portland’s own Blitzen Trapper. Read on for less lecturing and more music…