Reviews
Benjamin Gibbard 'Former Lives'
The Death Cab for Cutie frontman's solo debut is a loose collection of random songs trying on different styles.
Grizzly Bear 'Shields'
For their follow-up to 2009's beloved 'Veckatimest,' Grizzly Bear have made an LP that exchanges easy charm for a more difficult disposition.
Animal Collective 'Centipede Hz'
Animal Collective's follow-up to 'Merriweather Post Pavilion' recalls their more experimental past.
The XX 'Coexist'
In the face of daunting expectations, The xx's second record preserves the minimalism of the first.
How to Dress Well 'Total Loss'
Three years after minting the 'indie R&B' sound, Tom Krell takes an evolutionary step with the second How to Dress Well LP.
Why? 'Mumps, etc.'
After the downcast, piano-balladic 'Eskimo Snow', Yoni Wolf returns to rapping on Why?'s latest shrine to neurotic confessionalism.
Jens Lekman 'I Know What Love Isn't'
The Swedish crooner's first album in five years is a melancholy rumination on failed love.
Yeasayer 'Fragrant World'
While not as instantly enjoyable as either of its predecessors, 'Fragrant World' promises Yeasayer will always remain forever interesting.
Dirty Projectors 'Swing Lo Magellan'
Toning down the kooky concepts, Dirty Projectors' latest LP instead courts sincerity.
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti 'Mature Themes'
Ariel Pink's latest descend into the wobbly recesses of dated audio-tape confirms his indie-big-hitter status.
Best Coast 'The Only Place'
The second Best Coast record sounds like a just-fine successor to 'Crazy for You', but there's precious little magic at play.
Beach House 'Bloom'
Beach House's fourth album continues the Baltimore band's forward progression, sounding bigger, brighter, and bolder than ever.
M. Ward 'A Wasteland Companion'
Ward's seventh album lacks the enveloping, singular sound of past triumphs.
Sharon Van Etten 'Tramp'
Sharon Van Etten's third record gains a sense of grandeur, but loses the intimacy of her first two LPs.
Grimes 'Visions'
The third Grimes LP finds Claire Boucher exploring bright new realms of genre-transcending electronic pop.
Purity Ring 'Shrines'
Purity Ring's dark electronic music is simultaneously twee and terrifying; the buzz band building a shrine to the club then dousing it in blood.
Perfume Genius 'Put Your Back N 2 It'
Mike Hadreas' second Perfume Genius rolls out more stark, shivering confessionals set to forlorn piano and ghostly synths.
Real Estate 'Days'
Coming down from the blogosphere's eternal summer, Real Estate's second LP falls into a melancholy autumn.
Chairlift 'Something'
On their second album, Chairlift ditch the pastichey feel of their first LP and settle on something striking.
Cass McCombs 'Humor Risk'
After the career-high peak of 'Wit's End,' McCombs second LP for 2011 feels like a bit of a comedown...
St. Vincent 'Strange Mercy'
Listening to 'Strange Mercy' feels more like work than leisure.
Atlas Sound 'Parallax'
The third Atlas Sound album finds Bradford Cox verily crooning amidst dreamy, death-obsessed lullabies.
Sleep ∞ Over 'Forever'
Sleep ∞ Over's debut album drapes romantic slow-jams in layer upon gauzy layer of billowing sonic fog.
Twin Sister 'In Heaven'
On their debut album, Twin Sister still suffer from sonic schizophrenia.
Trailer Trash Tracys 'Ester'
Trailer Trash Tracys perform a minor miracle on their debut LP: making their atrocious band name charmingly meaningful.
Neon Indian 'Era Extraña'
Wherein Alan Palomo goes from chillwave to shoegaze without abandoning wonky, washed-out synths.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy 'Wolfroy Goes to Town'
Staging another conversation with God and his followers, Will Oldham is in prime form.
Megafaun 'Megafaun'
On their fourth album, Bon Iver's former bandmates sound ready for a breakout.
Dum Dum Girls 'Only in Dreams'
Kristin Gundred's fuzzy buzz band takes an unexpected turn towards the profound on the second DDG LP.
Girls 'Father, Son, Holy Ghost'
Attempting to sound like an important band, Girls authoring a self-conscious, disproportionately epic album where inspiration is seemingly absent.
Cant 'Dreams Come True'
Grizzly Bear's in-house producer goes solo with this stark set of synth confessionals.
Beirut 'The Rip Tide'
On the third Beirut LP, a now-grown-up Zach Condon quits his wanderin' ways, and finds a place to call home.
Active Child 'You Are All I See'
Pat Grossi's synthesized hymnals marry warbling choirboy vocals, Knife-like perversity, and Tears for Fears-esque stadium-synth sounds.
Memory Tapes 'Player Piano'
If Memory Tapes is a definitive chillwave act, why does 'Player Piano' sound so un-chilled?
The Horrors 'Skying'
The third Horrors LP builds big, synthy psych-pop of grand vistas and ascending repetition.
WU LYF 'Go Tell Fire to the Mountain'
WU LYF's debut LP strips away the mystery, revealing them as artful practitioners of ambitious, cinematic indie-rock.
Death Cab for Cutie 'Codes and Keys'
Lacking direction, 'Codes and Keys' is an aimless album that sounds like a band spinning their wheels.
Handsome Furs 'Sound Kapital'
The third Handsome Furs album is filled with anthems for disaffected Eastern Bloc youths.
Bon Iver 'Bon Iver'
A slick studio concoction working Justin Vernon's multi-tracked falsetto, the second Bon Iver LP makes a bold statement.
The Kills 'Blood Pressures'
In search of new horizons, The Kills abandon taut concepts and straight rock on their 4th LP. The results are mixed.
Fleet Foxes 'Helplessness Blues'
Fleet Foxes second LP is still warm and familial, but this time it's dorkier, more ambitious, and little uneven.
Gang Gang Dance 'Eye Contact'
Brooklyn's kings of the mystical, pan-global freak-out deliver their biggest, bassiest rumpus thus far.
Tune-Yards 'Whokill'
A barrage of funky, feminist, genre-crossing jams, the second Tune-Yards record beckons imminent crossover.
The Luyas 'Too Beautiful to Work'
The Luyas build impressionist, exploded pop-songs from zither, wurlitzer organ, French horn, drums, and Jessie Stein's tiny voice.
Toro y Moi 'Underneath the Pine'
Chaz Bundick's 2nd TYM LP shows he's no mere chillwave bro, but gifted multi-instrumentalist and sonic stylist.
Bright Eyes 'The People's Key'
Abandoning both rootsy rambling and lyrical confession, the seventh Bright Eyes album is a clean, bright pop record.
Cloud Nothings 'Cloud Nothings'
Dylan Baldi's two-minute pop-punk jams are steeped in '80s alternative sounds and blessed with charming economy.
Julianna Barwick 'The Magic Place'
Barwick is a one woman choir, looping her wordless wails until they crest in cascading waves of sound.
Joanna Newsom 'Have One On Me'
The warbling harpist's ambitious triple album cements her status as the most important artist of the 21st century.
Destroyer 'Kaputt'
Destroyer Kaputt - Review of Destroyer's Album Kaputt
Iron and Wine 'Kiss Each Other Clean'
Deerhunter 'Monomania'
'Monomania' marks a scrappier, rawer, more garagey record for Deerhunter, but it's still shot through with melancholy.
Young Galaxy 'Ultramarine'
On their fourth LP, Canadian indie-pop combo Young Galaxy conjure a nocturnal world of young dreamers, big cities, and the melancholy of growing older.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs 'Mosquito'
The latest Yeah Yeah Yeahs album is the band's least rocking, most varied, and strangest record yet.
Julianna Barwick 'The Magic Place'
Barwick is a one woman choir, looping her wordless wails until they crest in cascading waves of sound.
The Flaming Lips 'The Terror'
The Flaming Lips have made their name on the back of their joyous live-shows and a devotion to loveable weirdness. 'The Terror' goes for something, however, dark and disturbing.
Atoms for Peace 'Amok'
The 'supergroup' side-project for Radiohead's Thom Yorke sounds a lot like a record by Thom Yorke. Or Radiohead.
Autre Ne Veut 'Anxiety'
On his second Autre Ne Veut LP, Arthur Ashin hits his over-the-top-Alt-R&B stride...
My Bloody Valentine 'M B V'
22 years after 'Loveless,' it's thrilling to have My Bloody Valentine back in action. And, amazingly, 'M B V' manages to live up to two decades of built-up expectations.
Ducktails 'The Flower Lane'
The fourth Ducktails LP is a departure: Matt Mondanile's chillwavey solo project now a slick, synthy pop-band.
Toro y Moi 'Anything in Return'
On his third Toro y Moi album, Chaz Bundick gets smoother, funkier, and more dancefloor-friendly.
Chad Valley 'Young Hunger'
In summoning the slickness and gloss of '80s pop, Hugo Manuel finds something unexpectedly personal.
Jim James 'Regions of Light and Sound of God'
On his solo debut, the My Morning Jacket frontman makes a near-narrative record of retrofuturistic, psychedelic soul.
The Vaccines 'What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?'
The dull debut from the English press's latest Great White Hope is all hype, no soul.
Julia Holter 'Ekstasis'
Holter uses blog-friendly synth-pop tools —old keyboards, layers of voice, bountiful reverb, hazy fidelity— to make music that sounds ancient.
Vampire Weekend 'Modern Vampires of the City'
The third Vampire Weekend album makes the band's most varied, divisive, daring work.
Blue Hawaii 'Untogether'
Blue Hawaii follow their debut, 'Blooming Summer,' with an LP that sounds like Hushed Winter.
Yo La Tengo 'Fade'
Deep into their career, Yo La Tengo have never made a bad record, never made fans yearn for past glories.
10 Classic Rough Trade Albums
London's legendary Rough Trade Records released countless classic indie LPs in the '80s.
TV on the Radio 'Dear Science'
TV on the Radio's 'Dear Science' has been acclaimed as one of the greatest albums ever made. Which is definitely getting a little carried away about it.
Alternative Music Reviews and Recommendations - Top 10 Lists - Defini…
Reviews and Top 10 Lists to help you make sense of the sprawling alternative music realm...
The National 'Trouble Will Find Me'
The National are billing their sixth album as a lighter, funner record, but listen to Matt Berninger's lyrics and it's clear that the bands' hearts still beat dark.
TV on the Radio 'Nine Types of Light'
On their fourth LP, TVOTR finally have embraced their fate: the new INXS.
Cloud Nothings 'Attack On Memory'
The second album for Dylan Baldi's buzzy alt-rock revivalists takes a different, darker strain of '90s influence.
Upcoming Album Release Dates
Sort through the glut of new releases with this guide to the upcoming indie-music release schedule. As always, all dates are subject to radical and whimsical change.
Sort through the glut of new releases with this guide to the upcoming indie-music release schedule. As always, all dates are subject to radical and whimsical change.
Spiritualized 'Songs in A&E'
Jason Pierce's first album after a near-death bout with pneumonia is an inauspicious, familiar-feeling comeback.
Sufjan Stevens 'The Age of Adz'
Naysayers be damned: this is clearly Sufjan's best LP.
Radiohead 'The King of Limbs'
All insectile rhythms, elusive moods, and soul-singing vocals, the eighth Radiohead LP isn't primed for immediacy.
Definitive Albums: Unrest 'Imperial F.F.R.R.' (1992)
In 1992, Unrest's clean, minimal, unrockin' indie-rock stood apart from the distortion-drenched alterna-rock underground.
EMA 'Past Life Martyred Saints'
Tales of painful small-town adolescence add up to a secretly-funny soundtrack for a looming apocalypse.
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks 'Mirror Traffic'
With Beck producing, the Pavement leader shelves the lengthy boogie-rock jams for short, shambling pop songs.