An incredible selection of retro-tinged indie music, with Insomnia Radio's original creator and host back behind the mic.

STEREO IS A LIE (Editor’s Note: Shocking! A killer band from Austin, TX!) SIAL spent a large portion of 2009 writing and playing shows, supporting such artists as Rob Dickinson (Catherine Wheel), Dead Confederate and...

ne day way back in 2003, Oklahoma-based singer/songwriter Ryan McNeil and his friend and guitarist Drew Brown combined their love of pawn shop keyboards and DIY pop songs and began cranking out some lovely home recordings for a project called Debate Team. But Drew had another band which happened to go by the name OneRepublic, and in 2007 their popularity exploded with a pair of Top 10 singles. Just as Debate Team was beginning to carve a place in the dense music scene of Los Angeles, OneRepublic's rising fame (and the resulting champagne baths and international tours) put the group on hiatus.

From our inbox to your ears to discover, Setting Sun is psychedelic rock fueled by the likes of David Bowie and Beck, with creativity and melody to spare.

DJ AmperDan returns to IR:SF for 2011, looking back at the Bay Area music that rocked his world and his eardrums.

From start to finish, Early In The Morning (VAGRANT, January 25) is a ten-song recollection of one man’s journey through a time of change and transition. Having four years worth of songs written and endless time to...

Our first blush with Madison, Wisconsin’s “cabaret rockers” Lorenzo’s Music was back in February 2005. Their infectious track “Hot Water Avalanche” was one of the first singles to spread...

Birmingham, Alabama’s To Light A Fire seem to walk that very fragile line between mainstream and Christian music, at least on their single “Damned.” Taken from their summer 2010 release “Inward...

Since forming Tigers That Talked in 2006, singer-songwriter and guitarist Jamie Williams, bassist Owain Kelly, violinist Glenna Larsen and drummer Chris Verney have been patiently and meticulously honing their sound while...

This song, written and performed by pop mainstay Guster, will make you realize that sometimes the true spirit of Christmas can be best measured in inches, rather than feet. I personally have a tiny christmas tree with disco...

Stuart (@IRUK) featured The Beautiful Losers back in September, and the duo’s Indian-inspired acoustic music has grown on me since, especially after stumbling across their work for anime classic “Cowboy...

Dan just delivered the third episode of the new Insomnia Radio: San Francisco, and it is dedicated to the holidays. Ten amazing holiday songs – ranging from hilarious to ironic to beautiful – for your enjoyment...

Already receiving massive acclaim across the Atlantic, Denmark’s The Kissaway Trail debuted their first USA long player in April 2010 with the release of Sleep Mountain. The band’s first album sparked enormous...

In July of 2009, Dangerbird Records‘ co-founder Jeff Castelaz experienced the unimaginable. He comforted Pablo – his 6 year old son – as he passed away from cancer. Eulogies vocalist Peter Walker was...

Shortly after their high school graduation, the members of Harlan Pepper took their music on the road, writing new songs and using good ole grassroots promotion to spread the word of their new album “Young and...

You’ve heard this one before, haven’t you? Band X defies classification. It makes for good bio copy, but almost every time those words are uttered/typed/tweeted/etc., somebody’s full of shit. Minus The Bear, however...

‘Available Light’ is the first official release by singer/songwriter James McCartney. (Yes that McCartney!) Before stepping into his own, the only son of Paul and Linda McCartney played guitar and drums on Paul...

I love coming across bands who cite their influences as The Beatles, Oasis, The Who and Stone Roses – but then seeing their completely unpretentious biography: Built On Tradition are a young band hailing from...

Welcome to Episode 2 of the brand new Insomnia Radio: San Francisco! In this episode, Dan catches you up on the local happenings in the Bay area music scene, and features the latest indie awesomeness – including a...

Imagine The Rolling Stones, Talking Heads and Flock of Seagulls got locked into a studio for a week with nothing but their instruments, a disco ball and a healthy supply of grain alcohol. What do you get when you take five...

Moving away from our last episode’s melancholy moods, episode 175 of Insomnia Radio moves across several genres. The playlist runs the gamut from jazz to punk, acoustic pop to grunge to 8-bit rock, with minimal...

Wolf People are an English psychedelic rock band based in London, Bedford and North Yorkshire. They formed in 2006 around the release of a very limited CD EP on Sea Records as part of the Lifeboat Series.  They then...

Brave Chandeliers is a Portland, OR band that sounds like Billy Joel’s Porsche (before he crashed it). For such a young band, they come off as old souls, writing the catchiest alt-pop that manages to portray a...

Corwyn simply writes fiercely melodic, straight-up, non-pretentious rock and roll dipped in grunge-y goodness, and he does so with such consistent quality and production values you'd swear he was turning down major labels left and right.

The San Francisco feed of Insomnia Radio has been dark since February 2008, but today I’m ridiculously excited to be throwing the switch once again. As we have with IR: Chicago, our San Francisco is getting a reboot of...

[UPDATE: Be sure to listen to the next episode of Insomnia Radio to win 1 of 3 copies of the EP!] Of the Eureka Birds debut album, IR New York host and frequent reviewer Sarah Morrison had this to say: “To write a long...

In retrospect, I may have been too honest in my first (of many) emails to The Bolts' Addam Farmer. Here's an exact copy/paste: "My inner music snob wants to hate it because it sounds SO very mainstream, but my inner child is rocking out."

It happens every year, normally near November. The winter sets in and the melancholy attitude creeps its way into an Insomnia Radio playlist. Despite this collection of new songs and old favorites existing somewhere between...

Ever since the 2005 MGM vs Grokster ruling (which declared companies Grokster and Streamcast could be sued for inducing copyright infringement), the proverbial hammer has been ready to drop on P2P File Sharing service...

A special Halloween episode of Insomnia Radio Portugal, with a heavy, hard rock edge. Featuring music from AvantGarde management.

No where is this more apparent than on Luminaire, recorded for an upcoming Wool Recordings compilation called Woolly Jumpers. Luminaire folds in harmonies reminiscent of The Winter Sounds, soothing layers of electronica bliss, and a sort of call-and-response vocal style that keeps things just shy of beautifully chaotic.