Incredibly sad news over the weekend with the death of fingerpicking guitar titan Jack Rose. Rose, only 38, died of a heart attack early on Saturday morning at his home in Philadelphia.

Rose first came to acclaim through his work in acid-folk outfit Pelt, who, alongside acts like Charalambides and the Tower Recordings, were key figures in the growth of the New Weird America drone/folk/psychedelic movement.

Since going solo, Rose's sprawling, complex compositions drew comparisons to guitar-playing masters like Robbie Basho and John Fahey. His tenth solo album, Luck in the Valley, is scheduled for a release on Thrill Jockey on February 23, and will now be charged with added poignancy.

Following his death, a tribute page was set-up at Arthur Magazine's website, featuring MP3s of Rose recordings and videos of him performing. The recollections of Rose came thick and fast in the comments section, including a mammoth, magical eulogy penned by Magik Markers firebrand Elisa Ambrogio that's pretty much guaranteed to make you cry.

Name: Sleigh Bells
From: Brooklyn, New York
Story: Ex-hardcore dude and pop starlet meet cute, make music
Sound: Loud, proud, unbowed

It's a meet-cute moment worthy of a rom-com: 28-year-old ex-hardcore musician is making music by day, waiting tables by night. He's been searching for a singer to deliver the noisy, bass-thudding pop-songs he's been programming, and, one day, fate walks in the door. It's a 24-year-old school teacher out to dinner with her mother. At some point of the evening, he mentions that he's looking for a singer, and the mother volunteers her daughter. Match made.

That's the back-story of Brooklynite duo Sleigh Bells, the pairing of vocalist Alexis Krauss with beatmaker Derek Miller, formerly the guitarist of Floridian hardcore dudes Poison the Well. The music they make is elemental in its simplicity: she coos, caterwauls, and wails, he hammers his Akai Beatstation until it's bleeding. Sleigh Bells are a band of rhythm, noise, and energy.

The band's crowd-pleasing jams openly evoke M.I.A., early Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and shrill Canadian new-ravers Crystal Castles, with beats thunking so loud they distort, and Krauss alternating between come-hither moans and get-hence screams.

With "Crown on the Ground," Miller smashes sub-bass through the floorboards and synths through the glassware, but there's no denying the big, bright, bold pop-hooks powering the song. On "Ring Ring," the melody is pushed into the open: its lazy summer jam rocking a twanging-acoustic-guitar-sample that summons those days when sweat's running down the subway walls.

On the strength of cuts so deep, Sleigh Bells have been met with an unholy chorus of hype, which reached fever pitch with the 2009 CMJ Festival. Before that, they had no press handler, no booking agent, no record label. Two months on, and it's clear Sleigh Bells are going to be freakin' humungous come 2010.

• Visit: Sleigh Bells on Myspace

The Year: 1998
The Album: Cat Power, Moon Pix
Who It Influenced: Emily Jane White, Sharon Van Etten, Scout Niblett, Tiny Vipers, Taken By Trees, Metal Hearts

Speaking recently to the endlessly charming Cat Power, the conversation soon took a turn back to the distant past. Recording her ninth album, Chan Marshall —the songstress who is Cat Power— was reminded, evocatively, of recording her fourth, Moon Pix.

Coincidentally enough, Marshall made Moon Pix, regarded by many as her magnum opus, in my home-town, Melbourne, in the (Southern Hemispheric) summer of 1997/'98. I interviewed her for the first time, then. She played a string of shows around town, which I was blessed enough to witness. And, in the middle of all this, in the midst of the glaring heat, Marshall holed up in a darkened studio, often with only an engineer alongside her, and made an album.

It would complete the narrative to say that, in listening to Moon Pix, now, that I'm sent back to that summer via some form of musical time-travel. But, truth be told, every time I listen to Moon Pix it seems brand new; feels as if it's flowing out for the first time. I know all the songs, know every off-beat and every intake of breath, but they feel like memories from dreams, or the archaeological residue from past lives; the music always so immediate, so present.

It's, on certain days, my favorite album ever.

• Full review: Cat Power, Moon Pix

With the release of their second album, Contra, drawing ever-nearer, Vampire Weekend having been hitting the promotional trail hard. Recently, they landed in Sydney, where I spoke to VW frontman Ezra Koenig at length.

Said Vampire Weekend interview touched on the touchy issues surrounding the band; specifically, the influence of African guitar music on them, and whether taking inspiration from that is a form of cultural appropriation.

When Contra is finally released, next year, on January 12, Vampire Weekend will play a three-date homestand in New York, before heading out on a European tour; marking the start of a 2010 that will, surely, find the ever-exuberant outfit out on the road for much of the year.

Contra Band (on the Run):
December 10: Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
December 11: Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
December 12: La Jolla, CA - RIMAC Arena/UC San Diego
December 13: Los Angeles, CA - Gibson Amphitheater
December 15: Seattle, WA - WaMu Theater
January 12: Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater
January 17: New York, NY - United Palace Theater
January 18: New York, NY - Webster Hall
January 19: New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
February 7: Cambridge, England - Corn Exchange
February 8: Manchester, England - Manchester Apollo
February 9: Leeds, England - Leeds O2 Academy
February 10: Birmingham, England - Birmingham O2 Academy
February 12: Newcastle, England - Newcastle O2 Academy
February 13: Glasgow, Scotland - Barrowlands
February 14: Edinburgh, Scotland - Edinburgh Picture House
February 16: London, England - Brixton O2 Academy
February 17: London, England - Brixton O2 Academy
February 19: Berlin, Germany - Astra
February 20: Cologne, Germany - Gloria
February 21: Hamburg, Germany - Uebel or Gefaehrlich
February 22: Brussels, Belgium - AB
February 24: Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
February 25: Paris, France - Olympia
February 26: Toulouse, France - Le Bikini
February 27: Barcelona, Spain - TBA
February 28: Madrid, Spain - Teatro Circo Price

Photo © Søren Solkær Starbird