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Music

Get 'Up on High' with Vetiver

Vetiver get intimate by addressing one person at a time on their new album, Up on High. This music is for dancing alone in one's mind.

Music

Devendra Banhart Finds His 'Ma' in Everything

Devendra Banhart's latest album, Ma, is a tender, beautiful meditation on the bonds that ties us together.

Music

The Life and Times of Cerberus Shoal

Underground experimental rock sonic adventurers Cerberus Shoal get a much needed re-release of their essential records through Temporary Residence.

Music

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - "Blueberry Jam" (track review)

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's "Blueberry Jam" is a drug-induced, fruit-fueled criticism of the world we live in today.

Music

Billy Wylder Wants Us to Hear the "Roar of the Wild" (premiere)

Former Bombino guitarist Avi Salloway brings his own brand of songwriting to the fore with multifaceted quartet Billy Wylder and their new song "Roar of the Wild".

Music

CocoRosie: Heartache City

Still taking on taboos, CocoRosie's latest effort Heartache City finds melodic wonder in a fiery cosmos that is their poetry and horror.

Music

Devendra Banhart: Mala

Mala is a cake that comes across as half-baked, which is sorrowful knowing that Banhart really wanted to have that cake and eat it, too.

Books

Trouble, Strife and Endless Crooked Notes: 'Always in Trouble: An Oral History of ESP-Disk'

Jason Weiss offers an in-depth examination of one of the most important independent jazz and avant-rock record labels. Focusing on insiders’ recollections of the label’s rise and fall, Weiss presents an eye-opening tale of commercial reality colliding with imaginative ideals.

Music

AU: Both Lights

On Both Lights, AU blends minimalist impulses with dramatic pop dynamics and flavor. It's the recipe for some great songs, but an inconsistent album experience.

Music

Caroline Smith & The Good Night Sleeps: Little Wind

Smith has a quirky voice with a warble that resembles the freak-folk style of Joanna Newsom and Alela Diane. But while there is something Western about those two singers, Smith’s vocals have a Midwestern, plaintive air.

Music

All the Apparatus: All the Apparatus

All the Apparatus is a rollicking, eclectic, and hysteric form of indie rock, perfect for those who prefer celebration over navel-gazing.

Philip Majorins

Music

Skeletons: People

People is a dense, challenging listen, one that's grounded in reality and ever so more compelling as a result of it.

Music

Akron/Family: S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT

The latest helping of left-field psych-folk from the Brooklyn outfit is one of 2011’s first great albums.

Music

The Winks: Twilights

If Lewis Carroll had come of age in the 1960s, started a band instead of writing books, and taken copious amounts of bad acid, he might have come up with something that sounds like arty Montreal psych-rockers The Winks.

Zachary Houle

Music

Josephine Foster: Graphic As a Star

The Snow White of freak-folk gets her Emily Dickinson on.

Reviews

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Features

The 10 Best Sappy Love Songs of the 1970s

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PM Picks

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Pop Ten

The 25 Best Classic Progressive Rock Albums

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 1: 100 - 81

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '90s - Part 1 (100 - 81)

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 5: 20 - 1

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 2: 80 - 61

The 10 Best Sappy Love Songs of the 1970s

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 4: 40 - 21

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Vetiver get intimate by addressing one person at a time on their new album, Up on High. This music is for dancing alone in one's mind.

Devendra Banhart's latest album, Ma, is a tender, beautiful meditation on the bonds that ties us together.

Underground experimental rock sonic adventurers Cerberus Shoal get a much needed re-release of their essential records through Temporary Residence.

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's "Blueberry Jam" is a drug-induced, fruit-fueled criticism of the world we live in today.

Former Bombino guitarist Avi Salloway brings his own brand of songwriting to the fore with multifaceted quartet Billy Wylder and their new song "Roar of the Wild".

Still taking on taboos, CocoRosie's latest effort Heartache City finds melodic wonder in a fiery cosmos that is their poetry and horror.

Mala is a cake that comes across as half-baked, which is sorrowful knowing that Banhart really wanted to have that cake and eat it, too.

Jason Weiss offers an in-depth examination of one of the most important independent jazz and avant-rock record labels. Focusing on insiders’ recollections of the label’s rise and fall, Weiss presents an eye-opening tale of commercial reality colliding with imaginative ideals.

On Both Lights, AU blends minimalist impulses with dramatic pop dynamics and flavor. It's the recipe for some great songs, but an inconsistent album experience.

Smith has a quirky voice with a warble that resembles the freak-folk style of Joanna Newsom and Alela Diane. But while there is something Western about those two singers, Smith’s vocals have a Midwestern, plaintive air.

All the Apparatus is a rollicking, eclectic, and hysteric form of indie rock, perfect for those who prefer celebration over navel-gazing.

People is a dense, challenging listen, one that's grounded in reality and ever so more compelling as a result of it.

The latest helping of left-field psych-folk from the Brooklyn outfit is one of 2011’s first great albums.

If Lewis Carroll had come of age in the 1960s, started a band instead of writing books, and taken copious amounts of bad acid, he might have come up with something that sounds like arty Montreal psych-rockers The Winks.

The Snow White of freak-folk gets her Emily Dickinson on.

It’s been a full half-decade since Animal Collective came to prominence, bridging the gap between Brian Wilson and avant-garde tribal chant.

If his latest CD with the cumbersome title of is any indication, Ilya E. Monosov probably says profound things in between bouts of sitting and thinking.

Considered to be one of the original albums of the “psych-folk” movement, this reissue of the 1966 album is one you could probably do without.