Today marks the sneaky release of a brand new EP for ever-popular Austin rockers Spoon. Late last week, word leaked out from Merge Records that a new, three-track work from ... Read More

Name: Japandroids From: Vancouver, British Columbia Story: Two dudes playing loud Sound: Two dudes playing loud There are only two dudes in Japandroids, but they play loud as many. When guitarist/vocalist Brian King ... Read More

The Year: 1987 The Album: Dinosaur Jr, You're Living All Over Me Who It Influenced: Built to Spill, My Bloody Valentine, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail ... Read More

There were few human who owned 2008 so thoroughly as Justin Vernon. The bearded Bon Iver bard released one of 2008's best albums, For Emma, Forever Ago, worked with indie-rockers ... Read More

Ra Ra Riot's frontman Wes Miles is riding high with LP, debut album for his Vampire Weekend-associated side-project Discovery, but that doesn't mean his put his main band on the ... Read More

When Phil Elverum released his awe inspiring Mount Eerie album, it felt a little like a black-metal record. Epic, conceptual, referencing classic literature and snow-drenched, windswept nature; telling a tale ... Read More

Name: Shannon Stephens From: Seattle, Washington Story: The long-awaited return of Sufjan's old foil Sound: Graceful, downcast singer-songwriter-ism These 'introducing' pieces are usually a place where you can make the acquaintance of brand new ... Read More

The Year: 1996 The Album: Tortoise, Millions Now Living Will Never Die Who It Influenced: To Rococo Rot, The Dylan Group, The Album Leaf, From Monument to Masses, Holy F**k, Battles Back in ... Read More

Fresh off releasing their first album-proper in five years, Tortoise have lined up a run of almost-as-long-awaited tour-dates. With new LP Beacons of Ancestorship hitting the shelves on June 23 ... Read More

Last year, Portland folk-rock dudes Blitzen Trapper released their fourth album, Furr, on Sub Pop, spent two months touring with 2008 breakout stars Fleet Foxes, and, even spoke to me ... Read More

Back in a long-lost age we'll call 2004, three of America's favorite acoustic-guitar-wielding songwriters decided to go tourin' together, solo-style. Taking a break from Bright Eyes and My Morning Jacket, ... Read More

Name: Team B From: Brooklyn, New York Story: Beirut/Arcade Fire ensemble-member takes the solo Sound: Shuffle Mode Kelly Pratt has quite the musical CV: a touring member of the Arcade Fire and Beirut, he's ... Read More

The Year: 1994 The Album: Guided by Voices, Bee Thousand Who It Influenced: Jay Reatard, The Thermals, The Strokes, Titus Andronicus, Times New Viking, Deerhunter Once upon a time there was an elementary ... Read More

The Snake, the amazing second album by Swedish husband-and-wife duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums, has just gotten an official North American release date: August 29, on the Control Group. Released in ... Read More

Chad VanGaalen is tall, Canadian, and strange. A fervent devotee of home-recording, the Calgary-based carrot-top is fond of assembling instruments from society's refuse, building self-styled sound-machines to his hand-made song-forms. ... Read More

Earlier this year, the occasionally-venerable Matador Records released a record by the Condo F**ks, a wink-wink 'comedy' rock set in which the perpetrators were those wacky pranksters in genre-hopping indie-rockers ... Read More

Name: Rubies From: Santa Barbara, California Story: Santa Barbara by way of Oakland, Paris, Stockholm, Bergen, Tokyo... Sound: Homemade disco-folk After a decade playing in forever-overlooked indie-pop outfit Call and Response, Simone Rubi found ... Read More

The Year: 1988 The Album: Sonic Youth, Daydream Nation Who It Influenced: Nirvana, Hole, Pavement, ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Mogwai, Blonde Redhead, No Age With the imminent ... Read More

"Who are Vivian Girls?" It's not a question, but an answer. As in the crazy, mixed-up, televisual world of Jeopardy!, in which questions are answers. The bratty, lo-fi, rockin' racket ... Read More

God bless Dan Deacon! The ever-optimistic one-man-party (pictured!) has taken it upon himself to try and diffuse the dreary ambience and perfunctory routines that most liveshows suffer from. Last year, ... Read More

A couple of months ago, I introduced you to Micachu, the 21-year-old Londoner, Mica Levy, whose Matthew-Herbert-produced debut album, Jewellery, is one of the ought-nine's most wonderfully odd, unique records. Back ... Read More

Name: The Rural Alberta Advantage From: Toronto, Ontario Story: The Rural Alberta Nostalgia Sound: The Rural Alberta Neutral Milk Hotel The Rural Alberta Advantage aren't from Rural Alberta by zip-code, but at heart. Formed ... Read More