Artist: Rodrigo y Gabriela
Songs: 'Diablo Rojo' (Live)
Album: 'Live In Japan' [iTunes]
Sounds Like: Gipsy Kings, Rafael Canizares

Download: 'Diablo Rojo' (Live) (MP3)

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3x3 is back with a killer trio of live performances to excite your eardrums. First up, the newly revived Stereolab combine surrealist ideas and indie flavor for a plate of delicious rock. Meanwhile, Rodrigo y Gabriela offer up three tracks from their recently released 'Live in Japan' DVD, and Brit darlings Keane showcase their swirling piano rock both in a massive music hall and intimate studio. What's that? Oh, you're welcome.

It looks pretty simple: A guy on the right of the stage playing guitar, a guy on the left playing a different plucked-string instrument and three guys between them alternately clapping rhythms, singing and dancing. The performance of the group Son de la Frontera at the Echoplex in Los Angeles' hip Los Feliz neighborhood is anything but simple, an invigorating set of music as complex as it is passionate. And on such pieces as 'Un Compromiso/Toda Una Vida' (listen to it here), it's immeasurably passionate, the sounds of the instruments bearing equal amounts of highly disciplined precision and gifted instinct, with the highly demonstrative singing and dancing, at times bordering on overwrought, coming from the depth of the soul of the performers and from the depth of the centuries of dramatic history behind this flamenco music.

But it was also more than that. It was a living map of this group's approach. Think of Paco de Amparo's guitar as Andalusia, the home of Son de la Frontera. On the other side of the stage, Raúl Rodríguez's stringed instrument, the Cuban tres, represented Latin America, the true frontier of this Son. Flamenco didn't stop at the edge of Spain, of course, but came along with the exploration and settlements of the New World. And between these two geographic stand-ins, singer Moi de Morón, dancer Pepe Torres and Manuel Flores -- all of them contributing the compás (clapped and stomped beats) -- are the passage across the Atlantic, reaching even across the Americas into the hills of Mexico and to the Pacific coast of Peru and Ecuador in sounds that echo in this night's music.

Since the Interface's inception in the spring of 2006, the show has had one goal: to create an archive of music that matters. The sessions started in our tiny New York radio production office and have since gone bicoastal and made their way into proper studios. Moreover, last April, the Interface took a leap into the world of video podcasts, kicking it off with Liverpool's masked quartet Clinic.

As for the artists featured on the show, we handpick 'em all from our own sheer enthusiasm for the music. To that end, putting together a 2007 highlights reel was no easy feat. Nevertheless, we took a shot at it. Part One of our year-end podcast roundup includes in-studio performances by artists ranging from Oakland's indie troupe Rogue Wave to the thunderous flamenco-metal guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela. Keep reading to download some of our favorite performances from 2007. We hope you enjoy the show half as much as we enjoyed making it.

Meanwhile, we strongly recommend subscribing to the show and digging through the archive.

The Flaming Lips, the Bravery, Les Claypool, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Thievery Corporation are among the second round of performers slated to appear at the Echo Project, a three-day music and arts festival to be held in Atlanta on Oct. 12-14. They join the event's 60-plus acts, including previously announced performers the Killers, Stephen Marley, Polyphonic Spree, the Roots, Cat Power and the Dirty Delta Blues Band, and Rodrigo y Gabriela, among others.

"We are hoping to set a new standard for eco-responsible event production with the Echo Project, while creating an opportunity for music enthusiasts from around the globe to see a diverse range of talent," Nicolas Bouckaert, festival promoter and owner of Rivertown Entertainment, LLC, tells Spinner. "We are grateful for the support we have received so far and are looking forward to producing a safe and successful festival."

The event, which aims initiate eco-friendly social consciousness by way of music and art, will be held on a privately owned 1250-acre farm along the Chattahoochee river, and will launch a substantial river clean up prior to the event in conjunction with Sustainable Waves and Rivers Alive. In addition, the Echo Project will donate 15 cents of every ticket sold to Trees for the Future, an organization that combats illegal logging by planting trees throughout the world.

For a full list of performers and to purchase tickets, visit www.the-echoproject.com.

If you're Chicago-bound to witness this year's Lollapalooza festival (or even if you just wish you were), pack your iPod with ten free MP3s from our favorite bands on the bill.

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Who: This fast-fingered Mexican duo made a name for themselves with their blend of metal and flamenco.

Fun Fact: They worked as street buskers in Ireland, where they were discovered by Damien Rice.

Sounds Like: Traditional flamenco guitar mixed with Metallica.

Download: 'Diablo Rojo' (MP3)

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Mexico's Rodrigo y Gabriela, the world's greatest flamenco-metal duo, blend their love for thrash metal with lightening-fast classical guitar on inventive original tunes and classics like 'Stairway to Heaven' and Metallica's 'Orion.' "[Metallica] love the track," the duo told Spinner during a visit to the Interface.

Armed with only two acoustic guitars, the pair filled our Interface studio with a sounds as large as any of their favorite metal bands. Watch Rodrigo y Gabriela perform 'Orion,' and download the podcast to for three mind-bending songs.