Hip-hop, like many other genres of music since their beginnings, has become overcrowded. That is why at-the-moment MCs like Def Jux's Cage can seem like a dime a dozen. It's easy to leisurely define an artist when you only look at the label they're on and who they're working with (in this case, Blockhead, El-P, RJD2, and DJ Shadow). So much would be simple when identifying, or rather pigeonholing, Cage. He's had a typically hard-knock life yet the way in which he expresses his issues, both from his past and present, seems unusually genuine and poetic. His latest album Hell's Winter tells the tale of a deadbeat dad, phony gold diggers, and a bevy of personal emotional problems. Cage's hatred for his military-dismissed, H-slinging father is apparent in nearly every wry, aggressive passage and that's part of the reason this album hits so hard. The MC's voice is a little mix of Kanye and Aesop Rock and his writing efforts, along with the production quality, are first-rate new school. (Appearing at Abbey Pub on Nov. 18) --text: Josh Zanger--photo: Nairobi Morgan

Serving double duty on both the pop and club scene, Ladytron is among the UK's most influential. Being fed steady gigs to spin at their label-owned club never hurt either, although they have been DJing around the world. A 2001 release in Japan gave off early impressions the quartet was actually an Asian pop group rather than Brits influenced by the likes of Depeche Mode, Roxy Music, and Kraftwerk. With a roster of two designers, a model and a geneticist, Ladytron's music is more like artwork. Branded by some as just another '80s revival act (a term that vocalist Daniel Hunt finds rather hard to stomach), Spanish media instead offer up the ambivalent tag of "electronic music with skin" for the band, which seems to rest easier on Hunt's pallet. Stylistic and vampy with ear-pleasing synths and delicate vocals, Ladytron is cranking out invasively catchy tunes ranging from their first single, "He Took Her to a Movie", to the heavily-downloaded "Another Breakfast with You". (Appearing for a DJ set at Smartbar on Nov. 17) --text: Jyn Radakovits

Baltimore is no LA, NYC, or Chicago, but as far as its local music culture is concerned, the city has spawned several ingenious minds over its metropolitan existence. Home to legendary figures in music such as Philip Glass and Frank Zappa, Baltimore also houses dynamic indie rockers such as Lungfish and Wilderness. Lake Trout, with a sound that's a little melancholy and often celestial beyond understanding, are no exception. Possessing a distinctive urban rock mysticism particular to themselves, drummer Mike Lowry's breakbeat framework earns the applause of many beat-savvy perfectionists, with Woody Ranere serving as a competent vocalist who enhances the mood without mistreating it. Working with Tony Doogan (Mogwai) and Dave Fridmann (The Flaming Lips) on their new record Not Them, You has proved Lake Trout not only as a cult secret, but as a band that can ignite big sounds without sailing too far way from their core purpose. (Appearing with Kiss Me Deadly at Schubas on Nov. 18) --text: Cliff Berru

After the release of his debut album Shake Off The Dust.Arise on JDub Records, fans and critics alike were already praising Matisyahu as a 24-year-old reggae phenomenon. Once a "tour kid" who followed Phish around the country, Matisyahu (born Matthew Miller) spent much of his teenage years actively searching for a calling. Though he spent time contemplating his life's purpose while camping in Colorado and at an artsy wilderness school in Bend, Oregon, it was his trip to Israel, the rediscovery of his faith in Judaism and his adoption of the Lubavitch Hasidic lifestyle that gave Matisyahu the insight needed to embrace what he would become. Now supporting his second record, Live At Stubb's (Epic/Or Music/JDub), Matisyahu has been dubbed "The Hasidic Reggae Superstar" and, with the assistance of one helluva back-up band, continues to win over sold-out crowds night after night with his rugged yet captivating dancehall reggae style. (Appearing with Pigeon John at Metro on Nov. 17) --text: Mike Scales--photo: Seth Kushner

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