I've been super into Via Tania lately: the Chicago-by-way-of-Australia singer-songwriter just released her second album, Moon Sweet Moon, and it's full of dreamy-yet-substantial, bliss-and-wonder-filled tracks -- "The Beginning" is an absolute gem -- with some guilt-free disco thrown in to marvelous effect. Fans of Kate Nash, Feist, and even Kerli, start downloading.

But, most interestingly, it's obvious that Via Tania (born Tania Bowers) has been visiting Natasha Khan's Bat For Lashes School of Beauty, right down to the feathers and penchant for primary colors.

+ Watch Via Tania's "Wonder Stranger" video, and find out more about Bat For Lashes' new album, Two Suns.

More two-of-a-kind action:
+ Blake Lewis & Secondhand Serenade
+ Christina Aguilera & Anna Faris
+ Savannah Outen & Lo Bosworth
+ Katy Perry & Zooey Deschanel (DUH! I called this back in SEPTEMBER, people!)
+ Alex DeLeon & Guy From Carolina Liar
+ Pete Wentz-15-Years-From-Now & Dean Cain

The same West London scene that gave birth to Lily Allen, The Clash and pretty much everything British in between (not to mention Ealing, the hometown of Pete Townshend of The Who), has spit out another brilliant band of new-wave shoegazers called White Lies.

Formerly called Fear Of Flying, White Lies is made up of Harry McVeigh (vox, guitar), Charles Cave (bass) and Jack Lawrence-Brown (drums). The moody Brits have already been compared to The Killers, Interpol, Editors and others, but they name Talking Heads as their major influence. Despite all that, their nouveau '80s sound evokes adjectives more than it does band names. Adjectives like "spooky," "haunting" and "sinister." Like the soundtrack to a Donnie Darko sequel with vampires in it. And apparently we're not the only ones who think so, because White Lies just popped up on the massive and amazing Coachella schedule. Know what that means? It means start listening to White Lies NOW before you're officially the last to hear of them. Watch the video for "Death" below!

+ White Lies' self-titled major label debut is out March 23 on The Cure's Fiction Records (home of Kate Nash, Snow Patrol and Yeah Yeah Yeahs).

This week, we're taking a look back at los Artists of the Week quien aren't Américains. So let's revisit some of our most talented foreign friends, non?

Kate Nash: The sometimes-sweet, sometimes-sour British singer-songwriter played plucky piano and extolled the virtues of her favorite baked goods. Meanwhile, several of you applauded yourself for knowing about the British first. Watch Kate Nash's Artist of the Week videos here.

Calle 13: Puerto Rican duo Residente y Visitante got lyrically, metaphorically, bombastically political in their Artist of the Week spots, which were centered around the importance of voting in the 2008 American presidential election. Watch Calle 13's Artist of the Week videos here.

Paddy Casey: The disarmingly soulful Irish singer-songwriter painted broad strokes of Bob Dylan with his hit, "Addicted to Company," and won us over with quirky covers of Outkast and Blackstreet. Watch him warm up a stool in his favorite pub and gain the support of a church choir in his Artist of the Week videos.

Yelle: The quirky, flirty French Tecktonik hip-hop tart engaged in universal boy-issue lament set to hyper computerized blips and beeps and Casio beats. Watch Yelle's Artist of the Week videos here.

We'd enter willingly into Artist of the Week ex-officio Kate Nash's world of candy hearts, kissing booths, creepy furries and adorkable boys (like photographer Wesley Goode, who plays her love interest in the video).

Partizan director Kinga Burza, who also directed Kate's "Mouthwash," "Foundations" and "Caroline's A Victim" videos (as well as videos for The Teenagers and Calvin Harris) gave "Pumpkin Soup" some awesome anime treatment, and the results are sinisterly sweet, in a Murakami-Goes-On-Holiday-To-Wonka-World-And-Cabbage-Patch-Land way.

Check out the video above, read an in-depth interview with Kinga Burza, and watch Kate's exclusive Backstage Pass interviews on mtvU.com.

Today is very special, not just because it's the first official day AFTER the 80th Annual Academy Awards (AKA Hangover Day in Hollywood). And by the way, when will they invite back Adrian Brody so he can make out with more people? Anyway, today is the first day of Spankin' New Ladies Week on TRL. And for those of you unfamiliar with Spankin' New, it has nothing to do with light bondage, you pre-vert.

Spankin' New Ladies Week on TRL is a non-stop revolving door of lady talent (and a few choice dudes too) and their new videos, appearances and live performances. Check out the immensity of the guest list:

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Well, she at least showed up to last night's 2008 Brit Awards. And at this point, showing up is half the battle. She didn't walk away with any awards, but she did perform two songs -- "Love Is a Losing Game" and "Valerie" -- with Mark Ronson, who picked up an award for Best Male Solo Artist (an award second in importance only to the unofficial MTV Buzzworthy Obsession of the Year award), but unfortunately he did not strip on stage to celebrate his win. (Boo!) Instead, he accepted the award by saying "I've never felt so British or so male before in my life."

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(photo by Amy V. Cooper)

Lily Allen. There, we said it. Now, can we move on to Kate Nash instead of spending lots of time comparing her to another female singer/songwriter with a British accent who recently broke through the clutter? While the comparisons are meant to be flattering and not taken as offensive (she and Allen are fans of one another and pals, to boot), Nash deserves the same chance that Lily had to stand on her own without being compared to Kate.

So, who is Kate Nash? If you don't already know her, she's no one short of your first favorite new artist of the New Year, that's who. Her debut album, Made of Bricks, has won her gobs of praise in the U.K., and it's officially coming out here in the U.S. this week (Tuesday, Jan. 8, to be precise). The disc is filled with songs that are as straightforward and blunt as you can ask for, but delivered with a charming sung/spoken vocal that is instantly enrapturing.

But it's not until you're hooked on the obvious traits of her songs like "Foundations" that you start to absorb the subtleties of her songwriting. And appreciate them you will. As she details a relationship falling apart, her "fingertips are holding on to the cracks in our foundation," and she admits she knows she "can't let go," even though she knows she should, her vulnerability is seductive and beguiling. And when she recalls a lover's spat, her spiteful wit is all too sharp and stinging, especially if you've been through it yourself.

And the holidays may be over, but Kate's cover of The Waitress' "Christmas Wrapping" that's presently on her MySpace page is a loveable shamble that shouldn't be missed.

With the North American arrival of Made of Bricks, Nash is skipping over the pond to our shores for a few shows. For now, she's only playing Toronto, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. But you can be sure she'll be back after her stint on the Big Day Out festival tour of Australia and New Zealand and a string of dates in Ireland and the U.K. that run into early March. You'll need that much time to soak yourself in the wonders of the album anyway, so don't get too bent out of shape about it, mmmkay?

In the meantime, you'll see her adorableness all week on MTV. Watch her "Foundations" video, and check out a few of her MTV Artist of the Week clips below, and see them all right here.