I'm a homer. Being from the Philadelphia area I tend to like most things associated with the city. But for the most part there was never much of a music scene there. Unless you want to go back and talk about The Hooters, or Gamble & Huff or, ummmm ... DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince. So, it's not as if Philadelphia was known as a hotbed of music lately. But recently a number of acts who hail from the city have been getting attention nationally. If you're not familiar, here's a brief introduction to the new Philly sound.

So, you know about The Roots. There's no need to get into them. They're great. They're from Philly. Enough said. Although, can we please stop with the Illadelph thing, please. And of course there are other rappers who call Philadelphia home like Eve and Beanie Sigal, but have you heard of Asher Roth?

Roth's in Atlanta now, but apparently he's originally from Morristown, PA. Let's start out by stating the obvious: Asher Roth's a white rapper. Aside from Eminem, that hasn't worked out too well for most people (sorry Paul Wall). But Roth is a little bit different in that he's not trying to pretend he's from the inner city or rapping about "the game." Instead he's creating songs about the typical white suburban kid's college experience - parties, beer pong and parties. And when you get over the fact that his voice sounds EXACTLY like Eminem, his songs are catchy and he definitely has skills. Although it doesn't hurt that he's heavy on the Jay-Z and Lil Wayne samples (oh, and Weezer. Really? Weezer?)

Another artist making waves is Santogold (nee Santi White). If you haven't heard of her you've probably heard her songs "Creator" and "L.E.S. Artistes" in commercials for Bud Light Lime (ick!)and Ford. Or maybe you've heard the song she did for Converse with Julian Casablancas of The Strokes and Pharrell Williams called "My Drive Thru". Santogold's tough to categorize into a genre, she used to be in a punk band, she works with a number of hip-hop artists and she's featured in mainstream commercials. So I think she can appeal to a number of different musical tastes.

Someone who has worked with Santogold in the past is Diplo a DJ and producer from Philadelphia who is working with some of the biggest names in music. Over the last four years Diplo has remixed songs for Kanye West, Spoon, Justin Timberlake and Beck to name a few. He's also gone on tour with M.I.A. and Justice.

On the more "rock" side of things there are two bands that have been getting press lately. The first is Man Man who's latest album Rabbit Habits got a 8.0 from Pitchfork. That's like unheard of. Pitchfork only gave music, "a mode of creative expression consisting of sound and silence expressed through time" a 6.8. So, clearly Man Man transcends music. Man Man's definitely not for everyone, they're a bit out there. But, with band members with names like Honus Honus, Pow Pow and Chang Wang you've got to at least give them a listen. I suggest "Top Drawer."

And lastly (for this list) we have Dr. Dog, who's latest album, Fate, was released a couple of weeks ago. After being featured on some of the big summer festivals, the band is about to go on a world tour ... big shots. When their sound is described by most reviewers you get a lot of comparisons to The Beatles and The Beach Boys, which is a bit ridiculous I think. They have a sound that's a little reminiscent of the early days of rock, but they definitely update it and make it their own. Start off your Dr. Dog listening with "The Old Days" and decide for yourself.

And if you like Dr. Dog and will be in the Philadelphia area next week they'll be kicking off the Concerts in the Park series in Rittenhouse Square with a free show Wednesday, August 13 at 7pm. I'll be there, come find me.