POSTED // Mar 25,2009 - In an offshoot of grunge bands rediscovering the energy of punk, mid-'90s heyday musicians like Jon Spencer rediscovered the blues and added their own noisy, punk-influenced take on it.

POSTED // Mar 18,2009 - As sleek and smooth as the cityscapes of Tokyo on its sleeve photographs, Utah's MotherCity purveys little instrumental sojourns into meditative spaces that aren't empty or hollow but actually contain some interesting musical content, touches of jazz in the guitar glissandos and breathy cymbal brushes.

POSTED // Mar 11,2009 - Neko Case has the hardest kind of act to follow: herself. Her previous release Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (2006) created a new plateau in her career, a convergence of critical acclaim and a modicum of commercial success that somewhat reconciled the two.

POSTED // Mar 6,2009 - Tony Oros and Utah U2 tribute band Rattle & Hum review No Line on the Horizon.

POSTED // Mar 4,2009 - Anni Rossi Rockwell sings about glaciers; Wild Light channel Manic Street Preachers ...

POSTED // Feb 26,2009 - The album's other acts include The Books [fronted by Jose Gonzalez], Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, My Brightest Diamond, Kronos Quartet, The Decemberists, Iron and Wine, Grizzly Bear, Spoon, Arcade Fire, Beirut, My Morning Jacket, Dave Sitek, Buck 65, The New Pornographers, Yo La Tengo, and others.

POSTED // Feb 13,2009 - Since when did Sub Pop turn into a new folk label? Well thats not all the Seattle-based outfit is, obviously, but a large contingent of its roster fits into the denomination. Named after a species of wild grass, its only natural that Vetiver embody some portion of easy-going, hippie influence.

POSTED // Jan 14,2009 - nHeart Pharmacy Natural Selection nAli Sarijlou is Heart Pharmacy. Why perform under a pseudonym? Who cares. After listening to Sarijlou’s debut Natural Selection, we’re more concerned with the question, “Who broke his heart?” This album is a tone poem to love lost and love gained. The instrumentation is impressive given that it is all, excluding one song, entirely Sarijlou...

POSTED // Jan 7,2009 - n Ten Years of Mush Records Mixtape nA while back, I had the grand idea to make a mix CD with no track breaks; the record would be one continuous track composed of individual songs edited together with sparse transitions. My intention was purely selfish: This format would force the listener through my picks without the ability to skip the ones they might not like while I laughed from my High Thron...

POSTED // Dec 24,2008 - 2008—what a year for music! Creators and consumers of music took full advantage of the Internet as a vehicle for DIY distribution and even collaboration, with bands like Mercury Rev and Parts & Labor calling on listeners to contribute to their latest albums via the Web. Perhaps the interactive and immediate nature of the online community helps inform the eclectic range of great albums re...