20 bands to not miss at CMJ 2008

The Phenomenal Handclap Band

Daniel Collás and Sean Marquand are two New York DJs and producers who, over the years, have made friends with some of the city's favorite soul and indie rock acts. We suspect one of them must have one of those cool home bars or a 72-inch plasma, because when recording for this album started last year, a whole lotta boldface names showed up to their studio. A sampling: Patrick Wood (Oakley Hall), Jaleel Bunton (TV on the Radio), Luke O'Malley (Antibalas), Bart Davenport (Honeycut), Aurelio Valle (Calla), Reno Bo (Mooney Suzuki), Jon Spencer!

Though the contributors represent a Pitchfork homepage's worth of genres, PHB is rooted on the dance floor, a spinning—sometimes mellow—dance floor fueled by disco, prog rock, soul and hip-hop. Instant banger "15 to 20" has booty bass flygirl Lady Tigra rhyming "Schoolhouse Rock" style over a funky break, while "You'll Disappear" is a straight-up prog synth jam, laser effects included.