Music is the lifeblood of our business. Whether you work at a radio station, online platform, music blog, booking agent, record label, artist manager, music publisher, music journalist, film/TV supervisor, etc., without music we’d all be doing something else.

This week, hushhushAttack! asks some of its friends around the world what music they’re excited about of which you might not be aware. Here’s a little snapshot of what some of our mates are digging from various parts of the globe (by alphabetical name order of the executives):

Name: Aarti Tandon
Title: Editor, Rave Magazine (India)
Artist: Sara Wasserman (unsigned)
Origin: San Francisco, CA
What You Should Know: She is originally from San Francisco (father is Grammy–award winning musician Rob Wasserman). Her demo features Stephen Perkins, Aaron Neville, Lou Reed and Christian McBride. She is extremely talented and comes with incredible musical sensibilities.
Website: www.myspace.com/sarawasserman

Name: Alex Luke
Title: Director of Music Programming & Label Relations, iTunes (Worldwide)
Artist (1): Borne (Jellyfish, Australia)
Origin: Melbourne, Australia
What You Should Know: Sold over 15,000 albums on iTunes in a matter of months and still climbing.
Website: www.bornemusic.com/home.html

Artist (2): The Revelations
Origin: London, England
What You Should Know: Enjoying some well–deserved BBC Radio 2 airplay currently.
Website: www.therevelations.co.uk

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Name: Anders Johansson
Title: Head Of A&R, Universal Records (Sweden)
Artist (1): Erik Hassle (unsigned)
Origin: Stockholm, Sweden
What You Should Know: Young talent with a killer song…hurtful!
Website: www.myspace.com/erikhassle

Artist (2): Dora Steins (unsigned)
Origin: Stockholm & Göteborg, Sweden
What You Should Know: Listen to “Stay” and “Shame On Us.” Singer Malin writes the songs.
Website: www.myspace.com/thedorasteins

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Name: Brendan Smyth
Title: NZ On Air, Phase Five Project
Artist (1): The Mint Chicks (Flying Nun via Warner’s in NZ & Australia. Unsigned elsewhere)
Origin: Auckland, New Zealand
What You Should Know: The Mint Chicks have just unleashed a storming sophomore album called Crazy? Yes! Dumb? No!, which delivers on all the promise of the group’s manic early singles with an art–damaged pop sensibility. The title track of the album introduced The Mint Chicks to CHR audiences in New Zealand and set the band up for a slew of NZ music award nominations this year.
Website: www.themintchicks.com

Artist (2): Pluto
Origin: Auckland, New Zealand (Slow Rodriquez via EMI NZ. Unsigned outside of NZ)
What You Should Know: Articulate rock & roll renegades, Pluto have stuffed a few classic rock influences up their sleeve but show a ready willingness to experiment on the psychedelic side of the tracks to create some of the most irresistible, richly–textured rock music on the NZ scene. “Long White Cross” was huge on radio in New Zealand and made people sit up in Australia, the U.S. and the UK too.
Website: www.pluto.net.nz

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Name: Chris Foitle
Title: A&R Manager, MySpace Records
Artist (1): Dynamite Walls (unsigned)
Origin: San Diego, CA
What You Should Know: Soulful melodies/lyrics from an extremely unique vocalist whose influences remind me of everything from Van Morrison to The Strokes
Website: www.myspace.com/dynamitewalls

Artist (2): M–C Rut (formerly Strangler)
Origin: Sacramento, CA (unsigned)
What You Should Know: Straight–up riff–based rock & roll that is lacking in today’s music scene. Plus, vocals that scream Perry Farrell and energy that emulates Rage Against The Machine.
Website: www.myspace.com/mcrut

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Name: Danny Keenan
Title: A&R Manager, Albert Music (Australia)
Artist: Skybombers (Albert Productions, Australia. Seeking int’l partners)
Origin: Melbourne, Australia
What You Should Know: Red hot four–piece alternative/rock band. Although unsigned in the US, the single “It Goes Off” was officially added into rotation on “Indie 103.1FM” in Los Angeles. The single is also featured on EA Games’ Burnout Dominator. Soon to record their debut album with a first quarter release in 2008. Skybombers are back in Los Angeles last week of August for some shows. Don’t miss out!
Website: www.myspace.com/skybombers

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Name: Jacquie Perryman
Title: Sr. VP, Fox TV Music
Artist (1): The Rushes (Island)
Origin: UK
What You Should Know: Having met while attending university in Leeds, the four members of the Rushes subsequently relocated to south London, where they are working on their debut album before embarking on a UK tour with Turin Brakes this fall.
Website: www.myspace.com/therushes

Artist (2): War Tapes (unsigned)
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
What You Should Know: War Tapes recently opened for Smashing Pumpkins in San Francisco and Santa Cruz, CA and have received early radio support on Indie103.1 Los Angeles,
KITS "Live 105" San Francisco and BBC Radio 1.
Website: www.myspace.com/wartapes

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Name: Jennifer Wilson
Title: Editor, The Music Network (Australia)
Artist (1): Small Mercies (SonyBMG)
Origin: Australia
What You Should Know: Peaked just outside Top 30 on TMN ’s Hot 100 in Australia. Have supported Nickelback, recorded debut album with Matt Wallace (Maroon 5, Faith No More), songs used in “Prison Break” and TV Series “Thank God You’re Here.”
Website: www.myspace.com/smallmercies

Artist (2): Dead Letter Circus (unsigned)
Origin: Brisbane, Australia
What You Should Know: Currently fielding offers for publishing and record deals. Supported Brisbane, Australia’s The Butterfly Effect on national tour and Karnivool on current tour––hard rock outfit, played at “Come Together festival.”
Website: www.myspace.com/deadlettercircus

Artist (3): Josh Pyke (Ivy League, Australia & Interscope, USA)
Origin: Sydney, Australia
What You Should Know: Selling out venues around the country and just packed out a tent at the “Splendour in the Grass Festival.” Critically acclaimed album, Memories & Dust, heavily played on Triple J Radio and he played at SXSW this past year.
Website: www.myspace.com/joshpyke

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Name: Marianne Goode
Title: VP Music, Lifetime Networks
Artist: Greg Johnson (unsigned)
Origin: New Zealand
What You Should Know: Consistently great songwriting and super–memorable melodies!
Website: www.gregjohnson.com

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Name: Matt Edwards
Title: Head of A&R, EMI (UK)
Artist (1): Tinseltown (unsigned)
Origin: East London, England
What You Should Know: Romily, the lead singer and main songwriter, comes on like Gwen Stefani meets PJ Harvey and is cool as fuck
Website: http://www.myspace.com/Ilovetinseltown

Artist (2): Player Piano
Origin: Bloomington, IN (unsigned)
What You Should Know: Decamped from the States and currently doing sound at the Old Blue Last rather than doing this full–time!
Website: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=66845235

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Name: Steven Stewart
Title: Nokia Music (Finland)
Artist (1): Stephanie Smith (unsigned)
Origin: Utah (USA)
What You should Know: Hope–infused reality with razor–sharp lyrics and memorable melodies. Key tracks are “Another Ticket,” “Real Thing” and “Try So Hard.”
Website: www.stephaniesmithmusic.com, or www.myspace.com/stephaniesmith

Artist (2): Matthew Jordan
Origin: Los Angeles, CA (unsigned)
What You should Know: He was the kid pianist in Five For Fighting’s “100 Years” video and the finalist for MTV’s “Duets” with Vanessa Carlton. Young Billy Joel meets Ben Folds Five. Key tracks are “Falling Down,” “I’m On My Way” and “Jessie.”
Website: www.matthewjordan.com

Artist (3): Janna
Origin: Finland (Jupiter Records)
What You should Know: Soulful old–school chill…a sober Amy Winehouse.
Website: www.myspace.com/jannamusic

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Name: Stuart Clarke
Title: A&R Editor, Music Week (UK)
Artist (1): Royworld
Origin: London, England (just signed to Virgin––publishing still available)
What You Should Know: Lush pop!
Website: www.myspace.com/royworldtheband

Artist (2): Nic Dawson Kelly
Origin: London, England (unsigned for records and publishing)
What You Should Know: London singer/songwriter with one of the most unique voices you’ll ever hear. Stunning!
Website: www.myspace.com/nicdawsonkelly