There's something surely intriguing when the star-crossed "supergroup" label becomes affixed to three guys who just a decade ago would have found it nearly impossible to develop a following in the first place, let alone such independent fan bases that when they get together to screw off in the studio it elicits all sorts of anticipatory glee-shouts. Yet in these internet times, musicians such as Spencer Krug, Carey Mercer, and Dan Bejar do have a niche in which to survivably produce some of the most intricate and conceptually demanding albums of the last few years, and even afford themselves the spare time to work on the Swan Lake project, a project best described as what happens when three mad scientists meet at a mad scientist convention and decide to be mad scientists together. more ›

Carey Mercer's Blackout Beach project gives him the opportunity to go, without checks and balances, absolutely apeshit. And that’s exactly what he does with Skin of Evil, a deliciously murky concept album built around Donna, the notion of the perfect woman, and her past and present lovers, most of them woefully scorned, yet loving her nonetheless—on a scaffolding of chiming but stark guitar and otherwise complementary instrumentation and backup vocals, rarely is an album elevated so greatly via a close inspection of the lyric sheet. Listen after listen, it’s astounding that a man could make such a romantic album seem so utterly startling. more ›

Well, there isn’t really much that’s sour about this Austin pop group. They’re pretty much all sugar, although sometimes it can be a little bittersweet. The group – Jared Boulanger, Chris Page, Brandi Dipietro and Travis Hackett – formed just this year and has recently released The Meat of the Fruit, their first 7-song album. more ›

Everyone and their brother has heard of Wolf Parade. And most of their brothers have also heard of Sunset Rubdown. And people here and there and all about have heard of acts such as Destroyer, Handsome Furs, and Swan Lake. So why has Frog Eyes, yet another band somehow related to the Wolf Parade family ( *see the end of this article for the ridiculous relation), withstood the onslaught of recognition granted to their brethren, coming out clean and eccentric with most of their anonymity intact? Well, a pretty good guess would be that Frog Eyes' lantern-jawed lead man, Carey Mercer, appears to be a bit of a crazy bastard, and that they predate the Wolf Parade phenomenon, and therefore weren't privy to all the hype which comes from "popular band offshoot status." But if you listen really carefully to Sunset Rubdown's latest album, you can hear Mercer's influence all over it, from the freedom to rant and rave, to the unrelenting energy, to the sheer madman brilliance of it all. So, if you want to see a man who has had an influence on a whole bunch o' good, while not truly getting his own due, tune in to Club DeVille on Thursday. more ›

By and large, Canada has never been seen, in the eyes of the world, as quite the bastion of excess that the United States is. But until relatively recently, the world had not seen the spectacle of the Canadian indie scene. A tradition of ridiculous extravagance, borderline nepotistic chumminess, and overlapping personnel in the style of European royalty or American boards of directors is proudly continued in Beast Moans, the outstanding debut from Swan... more ›

If you survived the Deliverance-esque Ikea parking lot this weekend, and didn't get shot trying to get yourself a PS3, you deserve to spend even more of your hard-earned cash on records. Here's what you can find on the shelves at fine local establishments like End of an Ear or Waterloo today. Sufjan Stevens Songs for Christmas (Asthmatic Kitty) Featuring five discs worth of holiday music spanning the course of five years, tinsel used... more ›

SXSW.com released an updated lineup for this year's SXSW Music Festival earlier today, and it's one hell of a list. The SXSW committee hastens to note that "This is a partial list of performers confirmed to appear at the 2006 SXSW Music Festival. This list is current as of 1/13/06. All of this information is subject to change." International acts include: Masahiro Nitta, DMBQ, Ellegarden, Tsu Shi Ma Mi Re, PE'Z, The Emeralds (Japan)... more ›