Tune into the new kids on the block

Usher, Duffy and the Raconteurs are among the new rock artists to have nudged superstars such as Madonna and Prince out of the limelight. But there's an even fresher list of acts to watch that are every bit as good: Fleet Foxes, Jon Regen, Vincent and the Villains, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, Josh Fix and Jessie Baylin.

Only a few of the thousands of new CDs each year get much radio play, reviews and sales. I listen to about 1,000 a year. Many of the review copies I am sent are mediocre. So it's a rare, savoury pleasure to be blown away by a new recording.

The Fleet Foxes' self-titled debut (Sub Pop) looks like a classical release. It has a Bruegel painting on the cover and opens with medieval plainsong. The Seattle act moves rapidly to Beach Boys harmonies, baroque pop and 1950s doo-wop.

This is a musical smoothie poured out of a blender full of ingredients pinched from the Belmonts, Fairport Convention, Love and Arcade Fire. It gels nicely on tracks such as Ragged Wood.

Most CDs I get are sent from record companies or PR agencies. I'll admit to being wary when an artist pitches material directly – don't they have someone for that? This happened in the case of a handwritten note I received from Jon Regen.

This pianist's no amateur: His CD Let It Go (Sandfish) features Andy Summers of the Police and Martha Wainwright. There are hints of Bruce Hornsby and Van Morrison about it and the songwriting lifts it a notch.



Live rockers

UK rockers Villains have seen the ups and downs of showbiz for four years, building up a fearsome live reputation and missing commercial success. A debut album looked impossible until they were snapped up by EMI Group. The result, Gospel Bombs, has been missed by many reviewers, perhaps because it's not groundbreaking, just entertaining.

Many songs sound like 1950s pastiches or refugees from a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack. I mean that as a compliment: If you liked Urge Overkill's take on Neil Diamond's Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon from Pulp Fiction – the bit where Uma Thurman dances around her room – you'll love this.

UK producer Sam Duckworth is 22 and already on his second album. He hides behind the band name Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, taken from a Batman game, and lets his music do the talking.

Proof of his growing fan base was last year's sold out gig in Dubai, which proved to critics that Duckworth is certainly here to stay.

His new CD, on Atlantic, Searching for the Hows and Whys has guest vocals from Kate Nash on the song Better Things. This is clever pop, with Waiting for the Monster to Drown the standout track to download.

Josh Fix started his career as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley in San Francisco, sneaking away from work to become a radio DJ.



Quirky mix

He then became an insurance broker and slept in the office, saving his rent money to buy studio equipment. It's a fun story. Fortunately, the struggle was worth it. His debut Free at Last (1650 Entertainment) is almost as much fun. His breezy rock, a weird marriage of Queen and Todd Rundgren, flows over some biting words, such as the opener Don't Call Me in the Morning, where a 9-to-5 job blunts life's meaning.

Jessie Baylin has an uphill struggle to overcome the envy factor: This is a major label debut from a 24-year-old singer/songwriter engaged to Nathan Followill of the Kings of Leon. Her website trumpets interviews with Cosmo Girl and quotes reviews comparing her with Norah Jones. Those comparisons are fuelled by her collaborations with Jones's songwriter Jesse Harris. The CD Firesight (Verve Forecast) is beautifully crafted.

It's almost as good in fact as Eileen Rose, whose excellent At Our Tables (Evangeline) will be re-released later this year.