To say that bay-area rockers the Stone Foxes embrace the DiY philosophy would be an understatement. The Stone Foxes represent the next generation of multi-media musicians. Having grown up in the computer age, they simply know no other way. And with a desire to maintain as much control over their image and representation to the record buying public, modern technology has made this a reality for today’s multi-tasking musicians.

By all accounts, 2008 was a good year for The Airborne Toxic Event. They have become the darlings of Los Angeles press and radio and fixtures on the Southern California music scene. Their songs feature wide, sweeping hooks, garnering comparisons to Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire as well as the Clash and U2. The acts self-titled debut album—the band’s name is from the postmodern novel “White Noise” by Don DeLillo—is co-produced by Pete Min (Longwave, Ivy).

With much due respect and influence to Spinal Tap, here’s a list of some of the hottest new metal bands that might break through to the masses:

When it comes to defining the blues, there are several schools of thought, including the slick licks of Chicago, the soulful sounds of the Delta or the salty grooves laid down in Austin. These days, the blues are almost inescapable–it permeates rock (Led Zeppelin), folk (Ani DiFranco), jazz (John Scofield) and jam bands (Widespread Panic), as well as helping to launch all sorts of hyphenated strains. Back in the late ’40s, when Muddy Waters put his first blues band together, he set into motion a sound and style that would soon revolutionize popular music, leading to a tremendous blues movement that forged the way toward the formation of rock & roll. “The blues had a baby,” Waters once sang, “and they called it rock & roll!”