The Postal Service

As crazy as it sounds, the two creative minds behind the Postal Service (Jimmy Tamborello and Ben Gibbard) never met before working together. It seems Tamborello, a Death Cab For Cutie fan, asked its lead singer to come to L.A. and record vocals for his Dntel project, and Gibbard did! Of course, it probably helped that Tamborello's roomie is Pedro Benito from the Jealous Sound; either way, this initial meeting of musical minds was the genesis of the Postal Service. The two continued to collaborate for the better part of ten months, each mailing the other songs to add parts to, until all ten tracks for their debut album were completed. Inspired by their creative process, the duo dubbed themselves the Postal Service. Sub Pop released the 1980s-influenced fruits of their labor under the title Give Up in early 2003.