London-based indie outfit The Temper Trap are ensaring an international fan base with their fresh, accessible sound -- a layering of catchy melodies with sensitive vocals and stratospheric guitar. With the pop sensibility and universal appeal of U2 and Coldplay (two big names with whom the Australian foursome have frequently been aligned), The Temper Trap’s star is on the rise. Not only were they named one of the BBC’s Top 15 Sounds of 2009 and but they have been teetering on brink of fame on this side of the Atlantic as well ever since their punchy single “Sweet Disposition” was featured in the teaser trailer and soundtrack of indie romantic comedy (500) Days of Summer. The jet-setting quartet is swiftly venturing from down under to front and center in the musical world, with the US release of their new album Conditions. Over lunch at Café Mogador, Dougy Mandagi (vocals), Johnny Aherne (bass), Lorenzo Sillito (guitar), and Toby Dundas (drums) charmed us with their Aussie accents and talk of travels abroad.

The debut album from Oregon’s Hockey delivers a hat trick of electro-infused dance, pop and disco.

Eight musicians of different stripes and a gaggle of assorted instruments form the Phenomenal Handclap Band, who took the stage recently during a recent sold-out show at Joe’s Pub. The brainchild of DJs Daniel Collas (producer, songwriter, organ, synthesizers, vox) and Sean Marquand (producer, songwriter, synthesizers), the collective from Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn have seamlessly synthesized common threads of funk, psychedelic rock, disco, electro, and prog rock into authenticity-testing airs of nostalgia. The songs on their recently released self-titled debut are also undeniably dance floor-worthy—“15 to 20” was labeled by Rolling Stone "the first summer jam of 2009"—but Collas and Marquand are quick to distance themselves from ‘party band’ labels. “We want people to have a good time at our show of course, but I think that there’s a lot more to what it is than just being some pastiche of dance music,” says Marquand. We met Collas and Marquand—who'll be playing at Le Poisson Rouge Wednesday night—at their favorite East Village hangout, Lil’ Frankie’s Pizza before the last show, waxing on their debut, their drawing board, and their Swedish obsession.

After eight years as a regular on Saturday Night Live, Chris Kattan is moving away from the cartoon lunacy roles he was known for, and is taking his career in a more personal and grounded direction. In Bollywood Hero—the three-part comedic miniseries which Kattan wrote and produced—sees the actor playing a not-so-alternate version of himself, a down-on-his-luck LA actor who heads to Bollywood for his big break as the leading man in an epic action film (airing August 6 to 8). I caught up with Chris to discuss life after SNL, his famous feud with Norm McDonald, and the one girl he’d like to sleep with (hint: her name is Megan Fox).

When Anna Chlumsky starred as Macaulay Culkin’s automatic crush Vada Sultenfuss in the 1991 classic My Girl, a child star was born. But then came a string of mild films that led Chlumsky away from Hollywood and into college life as an international studies major at the University of Chicago. But now that she's all growed up, Chlumsky is making what seems like an inevitable bid for a serious career as an actress, and she's launching it with In the Loop. In the political satire, Chlumsky plays the sexy and ambitious Liza Weld -- aide to the US Assistant Secretary for Diplomacy (Mimi Kennedy) -- whose anti-war briefing paper causes a cross-Atlantic stir. We caught up to the actress to talk about her return to the big screen and what she likes about living in Brooklyn.

Taking cues from the founding father of evolutionary theory, Charles Darwin, an isolated Block Island house-turned-recording studio is The Low Anthem’s Galapagos. The Providence folk trio’s debut, Oh My God Charlie Darwin -- a major label re-release after finding its success on a local level -- swaps finches for folk instruments, looking to the English naturalist as not only lyrical inspiration, but as a model for their own reconnaissance of uncharted sonic terrains. The group took a grassroots approach to every step of the musical process with Darwin -- together playing 27 different instruments, lyrically contemplating social Darwinism, and even hand silk-screening the album’s covers -- resulting in a record that embodies the DIY Americana aesthetic.

Written by Mark Boal and directed by Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker features an elite squad of U.S. army soldiers, dismantling bombs in the most dangerous areas of Baghdad. The film's anything but your typical big-budget war flick—avoiding sensationalism and without political agenda, it realistically portrays one of the most fascinating and underrepresented facets of the war in Iraq, in the process capturing the psychological complexity of soldiers who voluntarily deal with borderline-psychotic danger on a daily basis. Rising star Jeremy Renner taps into Sergeant William James, a member of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), who’s taken apart 873 bombs in the heat of combat. James and his subordinates Sanborn and Eldridge (Notorious star Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty, respectively) are specially trained to handle homemade bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), which are responsible for more than half of America's Iraq War casualties and the deaths of thousands of Iraqi civilians. Already winning awards at the Venice Film Festival and earning Renner and Mackie Independent Spirit Award nominations, this not-to-be-missed war flick hits theaters on Friday (don't forget to check out the review from this month's issue of BlackBook before you see it). In a car ride on his way to the airport, Renner gave us a ring to wax on recklessness and courage, and the bombs that he’s disarmed both in front of the camera and in his own life.

In the Williamsburg apartment/recording studio of Nick Millhiser and Alex Frankel -- childhood best friends turned electro heroes Holy Ghost!, I’m drinking from a mug with a picture of a young Millhiser and Frankel on one side and the words “I love my auntie” on the other. It’s a testament to the longevity of their friendship and creative partnership. The duo has been working together for almost 15 years, from their elementary school breakdance crew West Side Boyz, to high school rap group Automato, to their current incarnation as Holy Ghost!. With the wildly successful release of their debut disco-tronic dance single “Hold On” and a slew of subsequent remixes under their belt -- most recently for Parisian pop rockers Phoenix's new single “Lisztomania” -- the two DJs have garnered a burgeoning wave of hype and numerous remix requests. On the 24th of June, their new single "I Will Come Back" is released and available exclusively at Green Label Sound. It's their first original piece of music in two years since the release of "Hold On." Eating takeout sushi and smoking American Spirits, Millhiser and Frankel discuss experiences on tour in Europe, where to find good dance music in New York, and the demise of radio hip hop.