Apr 03, 2012 Music Issue #40 - In the Studio 2012 - Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, and Twin Shadow

A touch of despair that a second album would never be forthcoming was starting to set in every time Miike Snow announced yet another tour in support of their self-titled debut. Its follow-up, Happy to You, carries over the clear lyrical intonations and inherent pop sensibility that established Miike Snow for trend watchers and the mainstream alike. More

Apr 02, 2012 Music Issue #40 - In the Studio 2012 - Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, and Twin Shadow

Bear in Heaven have been kicking around the Brooklyn scene for the better part of a decade now. They made a couple of really good Kraut-heavy records that few people heard (2004's Tunes Nextdoor to SongsEP, 2007's Red Bloom of the Boom), and another that garnered them long overdue accolades and an audience, 2009's superb, yet slightly more conventional Beast Rest Forth Mouth. More

Mar 30, 2012 Music Issue #40 - In the Studio 2012 - Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, and Twin Shadow

It's been 21 years since The Wedding Present's arguable masterpiece Seamonsters. And while they're doing the tour-your-classic-album thing with that one this year (as they did in 2010 with another arguable masterpiece Bizarro), they'll also have a little something new for you: Valentina, the group's eighth studio album.   More

Mar 29, 2012 Music Issue #40 - In the Studio 2012 - Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, and Twin Shadow

Last year's The Mistress was primarily the work of Alex Schaaf; Strange Land sees the Yellow Ostrich moniker expand to a three-piece, bringing on drummer Michael Tapper and multi-instrumentalist Jon Natchez as full-timers. More

Mar 28, 2012 Music Issue #40 - In the Studio 2012 - Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, and Twin Shadow

Oberhofer's saccharine surf-pop has been bubbling under our trending topics ever since the sparkling, loose-vibes gem "o0Oo0Oo" charmed us a couple years ago. Unlike virtually all of his contemporaries, Brad Oberhofer took an extended sabbatical before putting out his debut full-length Time Capsules II—making it a fresher, grander, and altogether tougher sound in the notoriously flimsy realm of beach-pop. More

Mar 27, 2012 Music Issue #40 - In the Studio 2012 - Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, and Twin Shadow

White Hills is one of the more formidable contemporary heirs to the Hawkwind space rock throne, an electrifying live band, and a damned prolific bunch. Here's another full-length, right on the heels of last year's Live at Roadburn and the ferocious H-p1. More

Mar 25, 2012 Music Issue #40 - In the Studio 2012 - Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, and Twin Shadow

In 2011, Katy Goodman took a break from her roll as bassist/vocalist and one-third of Brooklyn's Vivian Girls to assert her own singular identity as La Sera. Though still a Vivian Girl, Goodman's La Sera debut forged a slightly different path, eschewing the fuzzy haze of her main band for Mowtown-esque girl group pop, simple melodic ditties that exposed the angelic voice previously hidden by the rawk and roll of Vivian Girls. More

Mar 23, 2012 Music Web Exclusive

One of two Underworld retrospectives, A Collection features one disc of jukebox-friendly versions of familiar tracks. 

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Mar 23, 2012 Music Web Exclusive

The longer of two recent Underworld collections, Anthology makes its mark with a third disc of nine rare/unreleased tracks to supplement two discs of greatest hits. More