You could listen to the Cloud Room for street cred alone--their frontman's related to Philip Glass, they like to cover New Order--but there are better reasons. Try a blend of dreamy lyrics and tough percussion that, if not yet as polished as the Arcade Fire, is still sinuous and entrancing.

J. Stuart, relative of American Minimalist Composer Philip Glass, founded The Cloud Room after moving from California to New York in 2000 to work with filmmaker Hal Hartley. In 2004, Stuart suffered a health crisis, leading to a false positive HIV test result, an event that was later revealed in a week-long feature on the band by Pitchfork. It was during this time that he began writing songs, one of which would become "Hey Now Now". When the test was later proven false, Stuart decided to focus his life on his first love, music. In 2006, "Hey Now Now" was named by Rolling Stone as a top ten single of the year. Later that year, as the band was recording their second album in Stuart's apartment, a fire broke out and destroyed their equipment. However, the new recordings survived. In 2007, The Cloud Room became the first unsigned band to be used in an international ad campaign, for Pepsi. In September 2007, The Cloud Room played the Sopot Festival in Poland, representing the U.S. along with music stars such as Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Norah Jones, M. Ward and Monrose. On September 18th, 2007, The Cloud Room self-released a follow-up EP to their debut album entitled Please Don't Almost Kill Me. The album includes a guest appearance by Columbia recording artist Nicole Atkins. There is also a limited edition version packaged in melted jewel cases from J Stuart's apartment fire. Their debut cd was released in the UK on March 17, 2008 with new songs and artwork. The band released what they called a "Fake 7"" on February 14, 2008. It required "playing" a 7" on a website to hear the songs. The A-side consists of "February 14" by Huggy Bear and Leonard Cohen's "Memories" on the B-side. Bands The Cloud Room have toured or played with include Feist, Cut Copy, The Magic Numbers, The Go! Team, Pernice Brothers, Phosphorescent, Dandy Warhols, Foreign Born, Editors, We Are Scientists, Maximo Park, Matt Pond PA, Film School, The National, Talkdemonic, End of Fashion, Van She, Elbow, Muse, Patrick Wolf, A Place to Bury Strangers, Working For A Nuclear Free City and Norah Jones. Songs the band has been known to cover include "Always On My Mind", "Who Loves The Sun" by The Velvet Underground, "Strangers" by The Kinks, "Weird Fishes" by Radiohead and "Heroes" by David Bowie. Incidentally, David Bowie, The Arcade Fire and Spoon are among the artists reported to have been at Cloud Room concerts.