Listed by SOAM 5 track order:

STNNNG
Minneapolis outfit STNNNG (formerly known as "The Stunning") formed in late 2002 with a mission to become "the ultimate basement party band." If anyone who has ever heard them is correct, STNNNG is the ultimate something, all right. STNNNG's first full-length LP, Dignified Sissy, was released in April 2005, and the band was named the winner of the City Pages' "Picked to Click" critics poll, in September 2005. The band is now working on their followup to Dignified Sissy.

Spaghetti Western String Co.
A Minneapolis-based acoustic quartet, SWSCo. formed in the winter of 2003 to record Do Right By People, which was named one of the top ten albums of 2004 by the City Pages, and one of the top 20 albums of 2004 by the Minneapolis Star Tribune. In 2005, SWSCo. released the EP Quiet Mob, and won "Eclectic Artist of the Year" from the Minnesota Music Academy. A truly unique band, SWSCo. is also involved in music education, and has written film scores for silent films, performing live during film screenings at area special events and film festivals.

Metric
Toronto sensation Metric released their debut recording in 2001. Radio K was one of the first radio stations in the country to play the band, but by the time Metric released it's first full-lengh album, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, in 2003, everyone was playing them. The band is highly regarded among the press, and is adored by their ever-growing fanbase, for their blend of hyper-conscious lyrics and infectious new-wave stylings. In the fall of 2005, the band released its second LP, Live it Out, to even better reviews and wider airplay.

The Black Angels
Austin, TX drone-rockers The Black Angels were formed in May 2004, about 40 years too late. Their music is heavily influenced by 1960s artists such as The Velvet Underground and the Doors, but also the 1960s themselves. Thus, the band often comes off to first-time listeners not as a tribute to (or an imitation of) these artists, but as contemporaries of them. The band's first full length LP, Passover, was released in April, 2006.

Sims
Sims is part of the Doomtree collective, made up of local rappers and producers the likes of which include P.O.S., Cecil Otter, Dessa, and Lazerbeak. Modeled akin to the Wu-Tang clan, members of Doomtree often support and perform together, while each releases solo records with sigularly distinct styles. Sims' 2005 album Lights Out Paris was released to rave reviews from pretty much everyone who listened to it, earning a place on the Star Tribune's top albums of 2005.

Haley Bonar
Haley Bonar has been writing and performing music since she was 14, and is now well known as one of Minnesota's most talented and unique singer/songwriters. Playing her own brand of bitingly earnest music, she can be playful or gritty, and is often both at the same time. She has recieved accolades from music critics, from local to international, for both her recorded work as well as her live performances. Her second full-length record, Lure the Fox, is now out on Charkickers.

Saxon Shore
Lush, intense, and melodic is a simple but perhaps inadequate way to discribe Saxon Shore's instrumental rock. Radio K's Now Like Photographs co-host Chris Polley, an expert on such things, would likely describe them by convulsing, fainting, and staying alseep with a smile on his face for three days. Their lastest album, The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore, produced by Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Murcury Rev, Sleater Kinney), was released in October 2005.

Dead Meadow
The Washington, D.C. hard-rock band formed in 1998, citing early influences such as Black Sabbith and gothic writer H.P. Lovecraft. The band describes themselves as "encompass[ing] everything from ambient guitar drones to surging psych-funk sludge, sparse blues-folk ballads to distorted barbiturate space-rock, and a sprinkling of southern slow boogie thrown in for good measure." Dead Meadow holds the distinction of being the only band to record a BBC Peel Session outside of the BBC studios. Feathers, the band's fourth studio album, is out on Madador records.

Digitata
Minneapolis' Digitata formed in early 2004 as an all-electronic band (like the Human League!), but soon realized the potential of blending electronic and live instruments. After two weeks opening for Atmosphere on their spring 2005 tour, Digitata released their debut album, Sexually Transmitted Emotions. Digitata is currently working on their next album for 2006.

Chariots
Featuing memebers of Song Of Zarathustra, Chariots formed in 2003. The band played First Avenue and Radio K's "Best New Bands" showcase in 2004, and took part in the 2004 CMJ music conference in NYC. The band's first album, Congratulations helped the band become the "Best Punk Band 2005" according to the City Pages. Chariots is planning to tour nationally and in Europe, and is currently writing and recording a 2nd full-length album.

Trampled by Turtles
From Duluth, Minnesota, Trampled by Turtles is self-billed as a "non-traditional" bluegrass band. “We enjoy traditional bluegrass but we all grew up immersed in rock ‘n roll and I think our band reflects those qualities,” says band member Dave Simonett. The band is well known for their spellbinding live shows, having toured nationwide with artists such as Low, Camper Van Beethoven, Pedro the Lion, and Ike Reilly, while enjoying a cult-like following in Duluth and Minneapolis. The band's third album is Live at Luce, and is the only way other than SOAM 5 to hear the hardest-rocking non-rock band in Minnesota the way they were meant to be heard... while in your headphones, that is.

The Posies
Formed in 1986 in Bellingham, Washington, The Posies broke up in 2000, and then reformed in 2004. The band is best known for a series of radio hits released throughout the 1990s. Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow tour also as an acoustic duo. Stringfellow also tours regularly with R.E.M., and has released a number of "experiemental" solo albums. Jon Auer's also has release solo records, and is also known as a producer. The band's most recent full-length release, Every Kind Of Light, out on Ryko.

Kanser
South Minneapolis hip-hop outfit Kanser formed in the summer of 1995. The group's first release was recorded on a 4-track cassette recorder in 1997, which began a long tradition of the groups DIY spirit. Kanser, since 1998, is part of Interlock, a hip-hop organization which also includes Traditional Methods, Twisted Linguistics, and Odd Jobs. Kanser's self-titled album was released in 2005.

Thunder in the Valley
This local rock/ragtime band formed in early 2004. Mentioned in the same breath as Tom Waits, Sixteen Horsepower, and DeVotchKa, Thunder in the Valley's six-song debut CD enjoyed a popularity with Twin Cities music fans in general and Radio K volunteers in partuicular, becoming a fast favorite at the station. In 2005, Thunder in the Valley earned two Minnesota Music Award nominations, for "Best New Group" and "Best Eclectic Group." The band's first full-length album, A Long, Long Walk, was released in early 2006.

Dosh
Minneapolis multi-instrumentalist Martin Dosh began playing music at a young age, but began in earnest as a drummer in high school. For years, he collected and produced recordings of conversations, music, and random audio, while drumming for Andrew Broder's band, Fog. Those recordings became his first album, released in 2003. Every Dosh performance is wholly unique, as Dosh's brand of electronic music is created live. He uses digital delay processors while playing a host of acoustic and electric instruments, lending a new credability to the genre of the one-man band. Dosh's most recent album is Pure Trash, from Anticon Records.

Regulations
Swedish punk band Regulations formed in late 2002. As with all true punk bands, information about them is sparse. All you need to know about them is that they rock, and they're Swedish. Except that you don't need to know that they're Swedish, because they rock, and c'mon... that's all you really need to know. Their self-titled CD was released in the US by Havoc Records in 2005.

Sam Prekop and Archer Prewitt
This half of The Sea and Cake, which formed in Chicago in 1993, now each have their own solo careers, and have both scored huge college radio hits. The Sea and Cake's stock in trade is a unique blend of post-rock experimentation, that remains completely listenable, even catchy. Both Prekop and Prewitt's solo music, while quite distinct from each other, continue this tradition. Although not officially disbanded (the band's last album was released in 2003), The Sea and Cake have been in various stages of hiatus for nearly a decade. Prewitt's most resent album, Wilderness, and Prekop's most recent album, Who's Your New Professor?, were both released in 2005.

The Most Serene Republic
The suburban Toronto sextet formed in 2003 and quickly became the first band signed to Toronto label Arts & Crafts that didn't include a member of Broken Social Scene (Indie Kid Trivia!). TMSR features unique arrangements and song structures, punctuated by pleasant harmonies and a new twist on the classic-indie lyrical sentimentality. The band's debut full-length album, Underwater Cinematographer, was released in the summer of 2005, following a spring tour with fellow canadian band Stars.

Cloud Cult
Based out of an organic farm in Northern Minnesota, Clould Cult (and it's label Earthology Records) runs its operation using both environmentally sound and innovatively practical production practices. Jewel cases are recycled, inks are soy-based and printed on 100% post-consumer papers, and mailings are packed with dried leaves. Sometimes, it's easy to forget how phenomenal Cloud Cult's music is. Blending folk, electronic, and jam band styles, Cloud Cult came from nowhere to knock Radiohead out of the college radio charts with 2003's They Live on the Sun. A "live from Studio K" version of "Beautiful Boy" was featured on the band's 2004 album Aurora Borealis, which also features the studio version of "All Together Alone" (Now that's what I call synergy!). Cloud Cult's latest album, Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus, was released in June 2005.