CORRECTION: DJ Martian told me about The Rapture. Tim's actual quote was "The Cure fronted by Ian McCulloch" and was describing Interpol, another band I am investigating.

I'm currently listening to some moody down-tempo project by Paul Oakenfold that's essentially soundtrack music. Taken on that level, it's actually pretty cool, but I don't see myself pulling this one out for a listen very often.

The Rapture: I'd heard a limited amount of the buzz surrounding these guys in the UK, but hadn't really paid attention to them until Sir Tim Finney described them as "Echo and the Bunnymen fronted by Robert Smith". This is such a dead-on description of their breakthrough single "House Of Jealous Lovers" that I'm kicking myself repeatedly for not finding out more about them earlier. Even better, though, is the fact that their follow-up single "Olio" sounds like F.U.S.E fronted by Robert Smith. I AM DEEPLY OBSESSED WITH THIS BAND NOW.

You can judge for yourself by listening to the Real Audio clips here. The singer really does sound like a younger version of Robert Smith, though, so if you hate his vocals you might want to take a few minutes to prepare yourself before diving into the aural wonderfulness.