Big Walnuts Yonder sound almost exactly like what you’d expect out of a combo of Mike Watt (Minutemen), Nels Cline (Wilco), Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), and Nick Reinhart (Tera Melos), but unlike death, taxes, and other such predictable things, that ain’t no shame.

At 26 years old Mac DeMarco is a far cry from an old dog. But with his third full-length album he’s sounding older and wiser, containing his cadence, cutting the crusts off, his voice unapologetically and contentedly strolling through the stops in his mind.

There are many reasons why Gorillaz are a fascinating band, foremost of which is the way they skirt the question of identity.

Danish trio Mew are hipsters outside the cool scene; prog-rockers more interested in creating epic, dreamy pop than singing about ancient monuments

Before listening to Volume 1, first banish all expectations as to what this so-called super-group might sound like. Trying to figure out what a band featuring members of Midlake, Band of Horses, Franz Ferdinand, Travis, and Grandaddy will sound like is enough to give you a popsicle headache.

Undeniably, the respective talents of singer Amelia Meath and producer Nick Sanborn, the team that is Sylvan Esso, were made for each other.

Nearing a 20-year music career, Leslie Feist has proven herself to be a force of nature since the release of her debut record Monarch in 1999. Flaunting raspy vocals and an emotionally raw look at love and longing, Feist has become a universal voice for the intimacy of relationships.

Joe Goddard cuts the kind of record that disbands physical limitations. Granted the Londoner’s already got a strong track record, with his defining work from Hot Chip and The 2 Bears, but his second solo album is taking those heights and magnifying them, as we are ricocheted between smoky soul, verdant groove, and tantalizing pop-electronica.

Craig Finn has a way of making the connection from ordinary moments to extraordinary meanings. When we first met him in Lifter Puller and then in The Hold Steady his more-is-more, shot-gunned exuberance blew us away.