Who're you callin' al dente?

DOWNLOAD: Kid:Nap:Kin, "Heroin Grillz" (mp3)

Like risotto, young rock bands require a lot of time and stirring before their many disparate elements meld into a satisfying and delicious glop. Unlike risotto. . . . well, there are lots of ways that young rock bands aren't like risotto.

The Ontario-born, London-dwelling, math-whiz musician Dan Snaith has been kicking around the electronic music world since 2000, when he released an EP called People Eating Fruit, under the moniker Manitoba. Originally, music was a part-time gig, pursued on the side while Snaith taught and pursued a PhD in math.

Township, "Sandy" (Flophouse Sessions, Feb 2008)

Jen and Andy, the betrothed Somerville duo behind the fantastic Band in Boston Podcast, have recorded many of our favorite local indie bands for their "Flophouse Sessions" -- a series taped live in the pair's living room, on stripped-down gear, and given away free on teh internets.

DOWNLOAD: Hooray for Earth, "Warm Out" (mp3)

Hooray for Earth: odd band. Get 'em drunk, and they're liable to belt out a Justin Timberlake hit, or maybe one of Jacko's. Left on his own, their singer has been known to crank out Magnetic Fields covers. In their own right, HFE have carved out a unique niche that's equal parts indie breadth and metal brawn, like a second coming of Queens of the Stone Age.

DOWNLOAD: White Hinterland, "Dreaming of the Plum Trees" (mp3)

Back when she was studying at New England Conservatory, Casey Dienel put out a demo called "Grandmother Rock," a quick suite of songs suggesting rocking chairs more than rock-n-roll, a genre you'd coin if you were precocious, shy, and out of love with your generation.

P&N: Putting the amp back in ampersand

DOWNLOAD: Pretty and Nice, "Grab Your Nets" (mp3)

Pretty and Nice? No and no, actually -- ugly and raucous is more like it -- but they've got "Your New Favourite Band" written all over 'em. This Boston-via-Vermont foursome (or maybe threesome? MySpace is inconclusive) infuses thrill-crazed power-pop with the mad-noisy, chimp-like energy of juvie-hardened teenage degenerates.

P&N: Putting the amp back in ampersand

DOWNLOAD: Pretty and Nice, "Grab Your Nets" (mp3)

Pretty and Nice? No and no, actually -- ugly and raucous is more like it -- but they've got "Your New Favourite Band" written all over 'em. This Boston-via-Vermont foursome (or maybe threesome? MySpace is inconclusive) infuses thrill-crazed power-pop with the mad-noisy, chimp-like energy of juvie-hardened teenage degenerates.

Reeeeee-wind: this is where we scour our back catalogue and rate our favorite-of-favorites from the tracks we debuted this year. We've mixed in mp3-of-the-weeks with a bunch of the live sessions we recorded, and thrown a few videos into the mix . . . including at least a few that we forgot to mention. (Also check out the best of thephoenix.