On a regular basis, I am asking bands/artists who I admire to suggest musical acts THEY like. For this installment, I checked in with Mark Moore of the legendary dance act S’Express.

Mark recommended Ping Pong Bitches ( Click here to visit their website)

“When I first saw the Ping Pong Bitches I fell In love. I thought this is how the Shangri-Las would sound if they were brought up on a diet of Acid House and The Ramones”

It’s a fitting description, as Ping Pong Bitches manage to bring the raw energy of garage rock and acid house into highly catchy pop songs. Mark ended up signing the group to his label, Umami Records, and Ping Pong Bitches have just released a new album, “ALPHA DOG.” They are doing live shows throughout April to support the release - check out their website for details (and be sure to listen to their great cover of Soft Cell’s “Bedsitter.”)

For more info on Mark Moore and his various projects, check out his myspace page.

“Recommended by…” is a new column where we ask bands, musicians and DJs to recommended someone THEY feel the world should know about. In this edition, Alina Simone tells about Russian band Auktyon. If you’d like to contribute for future inclusion, please email us a paragraph or so about who you’re recommending, as well as some info about yourself. Be sure to include weblinks!

If there is one band that everyone needs to see, hear, taste and experience, it is legendary Russian rockers Auktyon. They just finished a short US tour this spring and have another planned for fall of 2006 — their live show is unmissable so don’t miss it! Auktyon is a six piece band, driven by two very disparate personalities. Musically, vocalist and guitarist Lenya Fedorov is the group’s anchor. But spiritually, Auktyon is led by Garkusha, a bizarre, clownlike man-child who contributes hand percussion and an occassional yelp. Horns blazing, the group blares through klezmer inflected numbers, with gypsy flourishes and washes of feedback that wouldn’t seem out of place on a Radiohead album. To date, my favorite Auktyon album is ‘Ptica’ and the title track alone made me an instant fan when I heard it in the background at a cafe in St. Petersburg.

As for me, I am a solo, singer girl who accompanies herself on electric guitar. I tend toward the grittier edges of indie rock. I am a big fan of passion and emotion in music. My songs tend to tell stories about places, rather than relationships, that didn’t work out; about moving on (and on). - Alina Simone

• Visit the Auktyon website at http://www.auktyon.com
• Visit Alina’s website at http://www.girlwithguitar.net