The first She & Him album from M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel was one of the bigger surprises of 2008.  With any luck, this one should probably be pretty great as well.  The lead single (found below) features guest vocals by Tilly and the Wall.  Sometimes it’s nice to listen to music that doesn’t make [...]

Say what?  One of the best indie rock records of all-time has just been reissued?  Yes, my friends, it is all true.   After it skyrocketed to over $100 on eBay for the past couple years, someone at Sony FINALLY had the good sense to repress Modest Mouse’s “The Moon & Antarctica”.  From the looks [...]

Crystal Antlers have been kinda quiet lately, but they are proving that they are a smart, forward-thinking band with this new release.  You can either buy “Little Sister / Dead Horses” on a 7″ slab of vinyl for $9 shipped, or you can download the tunes for free, or you can do both (recommended).  Loud [...]

Thrill Jockey is once again offering a subscription series of great 12″ releases.  Over the next year, they will release slabs by Javelin, Double Dagger, Jason Urick, Future Islands, Jack Rose with D. Charles Speer & The Helix, High Places, and Oval.  That’s a lot of music, and most of it will probably be awesome.  [...]

While I’m on the topic of party starting albums for people wearing ironic sunglasses, here’s something that may or may not turn out to be a complete piece of shit: a new 2xLP from MGMT. There aren’t supposed to be any singles released, so if you believe that this band has another great album in [...]

We seem to get really lucky with the albums we are sent to review, this one from The Most Powerful Telescope in the Universe is a very nice surprise.  It is a melting pot of modern influences – post-punk, space rock, 90’s indie, and post-rock, to name a few.  That probably doesn’t sound like the [...]

Thanks to a reader for tipping me off about Deep Space Recordings’ vinyl version of the self-titled album from Bristol’s The Fauns.  This is a beautiful shoegaze record, one that can’t make it through a review without being compared to Ride, Chapterhouse, and Lush.  I’ll take this over most of the modern gaze-inspired stuff anyday [...]

Slumberland Records is about to reissue the complete recordings of the short-lived rock band, Black Tambourine.  Reigning from 1989-1991, this band played reverb-drenched pop-rock.  The canned description always includes a passage about them being influenced by both bands like Jesus and the Mary Chain and Phil Spector 60’s vocal groups.  Here’s the deal, if you [...]

I know that in our realm of weirdo music, this probably won’t come as much of a surprise, but Pill Wonder’s “Jungle/Surf” doesn’t sound much like jungle or surf.  Lucky for you, it does sound like some undeniably catchy pop music that is loud, jangly, raucous, and blown-out.  The solo project of Will Murdoch is [...]

Broken Circles has posted a preorder for the “Everything Is Alive” LP from Pomegranates.  This Ohio band plays straight-up indie rock (think Modest Mouse, Death Cab, etc), so if you like college radio rock, I’m pretty sure you’ll like these guys quite a bit.  The record comes in three different vinyl colors:  Black (edition of [...]

Following their enormous recent success, Heart Break Beat Records has reissued the debut self-titled album by Beach House.  It was originally VERY limited (like, 500), and goes for big bank on eBay, so this is definitely a welcomed repress.  This record finds the duo at their dreamiest, popiest, and most original.  The new vinyl pressing [...]

I know Spencer wrote about the Pavement records yesterday, but Matador just dropped a load of other good stuff too.  First up is the new album from Okkervil River offshoot, Shearwater.  “The Golden Archipelago” is another beautiful, operatic piece of indie rock.  If you’re into this sort of thing, it will sweep you off your [...]

This one kind of came out of nowhere for me, but I’m always excited to hear a new Murder by Death album.  If you haven’t heard their brand of punk-flavored Americana yet, check the tune below, you just might get hooked.  “Good Morning, Magpie” is available in two editions:  Simple (200 gram orange LP, edition [...]

Those of you with an aversion to boutique vinyl will be happy to hear this – assuming you like Pavement, that is. Matador is reissuing pretty much the entire Pavement catalog on super inexpensive 120 gram black vinyl. We are talking pretty cheap here, most records are $10 with the exception of Wowee Zowee (which [...]

Just got this record in the mail from Chicago rock band Soft Speaker.  For a straightforward rock album, this one actually has a lot of different things going on.  Sometimes it reminds me of big indie bands like The National or The Editors, while other times it veers into the slowed-down, country-tinged territory of Wilco [...]