This Week On BandSoup (1/23-1/30)

Another week in the books and yet another week of great uploads here on BandSoup! Here are a few of the bands that you must hear according to an unanimous vote from the BandSoup blog team. Remember, new bands pop up on the site 1-5 times per day, so check back in with us. You might be missing out on your new favorite band!

* Click the band's name to hear their music.

Ben Crane (Folk/Acoustic)-- Hay Fever is Crane's first full-length release. The recording took place in his bedroom and classrooms in the Tufts music building. At its core, it's a folk album. But, he tried out lots of different styles and ended up with a pretty eclectic mix of tunes.

Daniel Whittingon (Folk/Blues/Country)-- Daniel has been performing since age 11 and spent the first few years of his music career touring with his father's blues band. In 2008 Daniel began work on a solo album and performing acoustic shows in Hollywood, CA at venues like the Rainbow Room, the Roxy, and the Pig and Whistle. After 3 months of working on the album, he moved to Austin to continue pursuing a solo career and to complete the album in Texas.

Makeshift (Regggae)--  An emerging Chicago based reggae/blues band that's reminiscent of O.A.R. and Slightly Stoopid.

Xperimento (Latin/Funk)-- Xperimento is a bilingual, multicultural band that blends world sounds such as Cumbia, Reggae, Merengue, Ska, Salsa, and Funk with elements of Rock, R&B, Hip Hop and Dancehall. Their songs are rhythmically driven, melodic, and catchy, making their live performances upbeat and fun, weather playing at clubs or big festivals. Xperimento's line up includes a horn section, percussion, drums, electric guitar, bass and a multifaceted singer.

The Ocho (Psych Rock/Jam Band)-- The Ocho is a 4-man Instrumental band who is stationed in Landskrona, Sweden. They play a mix of progressive and psychedelic Rock with hazy synths and funky soundscapes.

Pat Hull (Folk/Singer Songwriter)-- "The Brooklyn based songwriter's alto and his intimate melodies are evocative of Luke Temple's solo records before he started Here We Go Magic, and although the instrumentation, cadence and atmosphere of this material scream "country", Pat's melodies and guitar parts go in the direction of gently reinventing the genre rather than obeying to its exhausted axioms" - Deli Magazine

Wilbur By The Sea (Folk/Singer Songwriter)-- Wilbur By The Sea, the moniker of indie-folk songwriter Sean Knisely, is from a chance encounter along a road far from home. Placed curiously on a Florida road sign with no further explanation, it came to embody the wanderlust that later led Knisely to leave his hometown in West Virginia and follow his passion for music. After recording a collection of earnest and vulnerable acoustic songs in his apartment, he left his TV director job and hit the road to start following his dreams.

Symbol & Surface (Folk/Indie Rock)-- Read our Hot One of the Week feature on Symbol & Surface.