Musical Alphabet - O

Three "O" - themed bands for your listening enjoyment.

Ozomatli - "Can’t Stop"

If you took a bunch of musicians (say seven to ten), dropped them in a blender with a bunch of musical influences (Latin, hip hop, rock, salsa, jazz, funk and reggae influence) and pressed "puree," you'd end up with something very similar to Ozomatli.  In a 2007 interview on NPR one of the band members explained it like this: "You drive down Sunset Boulevard and turn off your stereo and roll down your windows and all the music that comes out of each and every different car, whether it's salsa, cumbia, merengue, or Hip Hop, funk or whatever, it's that crazy blend that's going on between that cacophony of sound is Ozomatli, y'know?"  They are a lot of fun, but not even the band can offer a label that accurately frames their sound.

Electric Owls - "Darken Me"

Continuing our theme of bands that don't easily fit into a single category, here are Electric Owls which blend alt-rock, indie, folk, country, and bluegrass influences.

Of Montreal - "Disconnect the Dots"

While Of Montreal has gone on to gain a certain amount of fame in indie circles, this was the first song of theirs that I was exposed to while they were still climbing that ladder.  For weeks I had the lyrics, "Come disconnect the dots with me, poppet - come disconnect the dots" stuck in my head.