We’re not really sure what it is exactly about this Boston alterna-pop group fronted by the pipes of Sarah Guild, but we like it. And, we’re not the only ones. Among their growing list of supporters and well-wishers are New York Magazine, Time Out NY, The Boston Globe, Magnet and more. New Collisions’ debut LP is just out, and it was recorded deliberately quickly to harness more of a live aesthetic by producers Sean Slade and Paul Kolderie (The Pixies, Dinosaur Jr., Radiohead, The Sounds). more ›

If you haven’t already seen a lot about this singer/songwriter who’s become quite popular in the London folk scene and beyond, you will. She recorded her debut album, Alas, I Cannot Swim, which was later nominated for the Mercury Prize, when she was seventeen. She was also nominated for the Mercury this year with her follow-up, I Speak Because I Can, which rose to impressive heights on the UK charts. more ›

What’s the Deal: This West Palm Beach, Florida indie rock outfit blends the tastes of surf rock and pop with indie quirk to create a debut album that cracked the Billboard 200 chart and received a round of kudos from critic types, including Pitchfork who was really digging on their first single “Swim.” A scramble for musical reference when Astro Coast was released brought on comparisons to Weezer, Built to Spill, even Spoon. more ›

What’s the Deal: Bostich and Fussible are just two of the members of Tijuana’s Nortec Collective (Nortec is a style of music that comes from the fusion of norteño and techno). The foursome that makes up Nortec Collective (Bostich, Fussible, Hiperboreal and Clorofila) performs live and releases albums only in the configurations of Bostich + Fussible and Hiperboreal + Clorofila, while still maintaining themselves under the banner of the Collective. Just in time for their ACL performance, Bostich + Fussible have released their brand new album, Bulevar 200, on Nacional Records. more ›

What’s the Deal: If you’re a music-loving Austinite and haven’t heard of these guys, then maybe you’re just not listening hard enough. It’s no surprise that this local supergroup of songwriters made it to the Austin City Limits lineup this year considering their second studio album, One Foot In the Ether, helped earn them much-deserved music media buzz and an AMA award nomination or two. more ›

What’s the Deal: Until the group announced the release of their “best of” album, They’ll Only Miss You When You Leave: Songs 1996 - 2003, the majority of Carissa’s Wierd fans were likely to be found close to their pacific northwest home or on Band of Horses fan sites. The group was formed in 1995 by “punk kids grown up and gone sad” Seattle musicians (then living in Tucson, AZ) Mat Brooke (of Grand Archives) and Jenn Ghetto. Among the players they picked up along the way was future Band of Horses frontman, Ben Bridwell. Then, after a handful of releases, they called it quits in 2003. more ›

What’s the Deal: At the Southern tip of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley is where you’ll find the sharp and anxious dance punk sounds of The Young Maths. Their sound settles somewhere in the vein of earlier Hot Hot Heat (who are actually playing at Emo’s on August 27th) on several tracks, with a high energy that is transmitted via pokey guitar angles, a knee-quaking beat and higher pitched, frenzied vocals. more ›

What’s the Deal: With tracks titled “Skate Higher,” “Hired Goons” and “Wizard Lazer,” it stands to reason that the group’s new record, Wave High, would be a little tongue-in-cheek. But, achieving that musical vibe isn’t likely when you’re an instrumental indie rock group. Instead, the music this foursome creates is more thoughtful and full of repeating waves of indie pop ambiance. When you think instrumental indie, Explosions in the Sky will likely be among the first acts to pop in your head, and although they both could be as a score to your evening, Broke Beads is lighter and a little less focused on dreamy guitar-based sonic structures. more ›

What’s the Deal: Accordion/pianist Nona Marie Invie, banjo/clarinetist Marshall LaCount and company make up Minneapolis’ Dark Dark Dark. The largely piano-based tunes on their latest EP, Bright Bright Bright, swell and swoon their way through six songs which transition between a sultry lounge vibe and a gypsy encampment lullaby. more ›

What’s the Deal: Kasher’s name is one that’s been floating around in indie rock circles since the 90s with the early Cursive releases (a band he fronts along with The Good Life). Collectively, he and the bands have released 12+ recordings, and his history even goes back further with his roles in Slowdown Virginia and Commander Venus, a group he was in with fellow Saddle Creeker Conor Oberst. more ›

What’s the Deal: Hospital Ships is a musical project led by Jordan Geiger, songwriter for Minus Story and trumpet player for Shearwater, enhanced by a large group of frequent and occasional musical collaborators and live players including members of Shearwater like Kevin Schneider, Thor Harris, and even Jonathan Meiburg. Geiger’s cozy bedroom pop is based in Lawrence, Kansas. more ›

What’s the Deal: One muggy, drizzly Friday night recently Le Diamant was randomly beckoned by a clamor on Red River and followed the sounds into Beauty Bar, only to be introduced to the music of locals Markov. Being that we spent some time in another life studying physics and mathematics, we’d like to believe that they’re named after Russian mathematician Andrei Markov. We know this for sure though, their music, which drew out some comparisons to Refused by neighboring members of the packed crowd, blends ensnaring hardcore with artful indie noise and their live show is animated and possessing. more ›

What’s the Deal: Head out to Pixel Pop on July 16th at the Mohawk and Candi and the Strangers will be just a small fraction of your evening’s entertainment along with music by The Happen-ins, The Bubbles and a DJ set by uLOVEi. All that music combined with art demos, a fashion show and wondercraft projects will likely have the combined effect of an artistic brain freeze as your cells sluggishly poke about fully fed on the evening’s activities. more ›

What’s the deal: This California-based rock trio just got off a west coast mini-tour with Besnard Lakes and was in Austin hitting it hard at SXSW this year in the wake of the release of their first full-length, Spells. more ›

What’s the Deal: Trumpeter Swan is Drew Patrizi’s solo project, whom you might remember as a founding member of Austin’s What Made Milwaukee Famous. He took an album’s worth of material featuring local guest musicians like John Farmer and Jeremy Bruch of WMMF, Jason Chronis of Voxtrot and Matt Bricker of The Polyphonic Spree, had it recorded at Cacophony Recorders and engineered by Erik Wofford and Danny Reisch, and took off to Brooklyn where these 12 tracks later became Listen For The Clues, Patrizi’s self-released debut album. more ›

What’s the Deal: If Saddle Creek Records has dropped off your radar in the past few years, maybe The Mynabirds will help rekindle your interest in Azure Ray, Georgie James, Bright Eyes, etc., all of which have ties to The Mynabirds and the new recording What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood. The album is the solo debut from former Georgie James member Laura Burhenn, which is really a return to the norm for Burhenn who spent many of her early days making music all on her own. more ›

What’s the Deal: By no means new on the scene. Le Diamant remembers these guys (and gal) playing the New Brookland Tavern in Columbia, South Carolina back in ’04. But, they’ve come a long way, and to be honest, they’ve always had a unique and agreeable sound. This Indiana rock foursome uses an electric cello to help create potent alt-country, southern gothic tunes. more ›

What’s the Deal: All the way from Bogotá, Colombia the electro-Cumbia fivesome Bomba Estéreo is bringing their entrancing, dancing mix of beats, loops and even a dash of vocals that aren’t a far cry from those of M.I.A to Austin for Pachanga Latino Music Festival Saturday, May 22nd. more ›

What’s the Deal: This Welsh trio just released their debut 8-song album, A Balloon Called Moaning, in the US May 4th on Black Bell Records. They are the first band to be signed to the label, which was founded by Passion Pit’s Ayad Al Adhamy. The Joy Formidable played their first American tours as the headlining act earlier this year, but they’ve been building a buzz in the UK with a string of successful singles. more ›

What’s the Deal: We’re bringing you another international band you should know this week. Choir of Young Believers are a sometimes haunting folk rock group from Copenhagen, Denmark. Their members rotate, but always include singer/songwriter/guitarist Jannis Noya Makrigiannis, and can also mean a backing choir of what we can only assume are indeed young believers. We know that their Danish homeland believes in them, so much so that they’ve backed the band to score some No. 1 hits and at least one Danish Music Award. more ›

What’s the Deal: The other night while sharing some late night drinks with the lovely Amy Cook, a visiting journalist from MTV Canada and a few others, one of the courteous young lads from Mother Falcon caught the Le Diamant ear. Really all they had to say was that there was a 17-piece indie rock band playing violins, cellos, a bassoon, accordion, saxophone and any other beautiful instrument they could find. Did we mention they are a U21 band? Impressive, no? more ›

What’s the Deal: During the chaos that is SXSW it is hard to pick one band out of the pack as a musical leader of the pack for that week. But, if anyone had the chance to catch Denmark’s Kashmir, they were likely won over almost immediately. There’s also a strong chance many were already familiar with the band, named after the Led Zeppelin song, due in part to the fact that they’ve been active since the early 90s. The rock quartet has achieved substantial success in Denmark, winning several Danish Music Awards over the years, including ‘Best Danish Band’ and ‘Best Danish Album.’ Kashmir’s latest album and sixth full-length, Trespassers, made landfall in Denmark in February and made it to #1 on the Danish charts and even charted in Mexico. It’s their first album since 2005’s No Balance Palace, a recording produced by Tony Visconti (David Bowie, Thin lizzy, T. Rex, Morrissey) and featuring guest performances by Bowie and Lou Reed. more ›

What’s the Deal: This Brooklyn indie dance-rock duo bordering on the cacophonous charmed the pants off CMJ-goers last year, and it’s a good bet they’re going to do the same thing this year at SXSW. Then, immediately following their shows in Austin, the two of them are headed out on some massive April coast-to-coast touring, joining up with Yeasayer midway through in California. Did we mention they don’t even have an album out yet? more ›

The artwork on Smith’s latest album and the name alone, Songs for a Sinking Ship, should be enough to entice Decemberists fans to give it a listen. But, it’s the lounge pop-meets-bold singer/songwriter music within is what will keep you. And, right now, you can preview the entire record on Spinner.com. This latest, self-released album of hers was made possible with help from the online fund raising platform Kickstarter. Now, Smith and her Great Picture Show are using piano, accordion, ukulele and even some melodic a to dredge up pop arrangements from the 30s and 40s and mix them with strongly worded folk tunes to create something both pleasing and invigorating. more ›

What’s the Deal: His birth name is Auguste Aurthur Bondy, and he’s an American folk artist from Brimingham, Alabama. Prior to his work as a solo artist, he was known for his role in the rock band Verbena, which broke up in 2003. His solo work seems more deliberate, sentimental and honest as much of it is supported by little more than Bondy’s voice and ringing acoustic guitar strings. more ›

We Americans tend to think we have a pretty amazingly musical and artistic country, but perhaps we should be paying a little closer attention to the music of our neighbors to the North. Pretty much anytime you want to get turned on to a new act that might not have made it down over the border and to your ears, all you have to do is check out the Junos or Polaris. This year, Plants and Animals were up for New Group of the Year, but lost to The Stills. more ›

What’s the Deal: The lads in Dinosaur Feathers are hard working. This Brooklyn trio crafts some of the most dense, winding pop fattened up with layers of drum machine, keyboard tones, guitar and vocal melodies sometimes sporting that sound you used to make when you were a kid by singing into the fan. With such a multitude of sounds present, it would be quite easy for the Feathers to lose you in the shuffle, but they do an expert job of holding your interest and stringing you along for a wild, frolicsome ride. Even though their debut, Fantasy Memorial, won’t arrive until the beginning of March, they’ve no doubt worn themselves out playing show after show on their New York stomping ground. But, beginning in March, they’ll be leaving the city streets for a tour down the east coast and entering into the Midwest. more ›

What’s the Deal: The Antlers aren’t what we call and “unknown”, but they’re definitely on the up and up. This Brooklyn three-piece has been making friends in the blogosphere and beyond since the release of their latest album, Hospice, almost a year ago. The album is incredibly powerful and the subject matter combined with some understated, somber musicianship and vocals can overtake you if you aren’t ready for it. It’s a concept work written by vocalist Peter Silberman after a period of isolation about a man falling for a bone cancer patient and watching her die. All the depression, vibrant emotions, and feelings of beauty in frailty are communicated expertly in the lyrics as well as the dazzling instrumentation. more ›

What’s the Deal: There have been many comparisons of this Boston area fivesome to Arcade Fire and The Shins and other bands of that ilk, running in similar circles and whatnot, but we’re not going to do any of that (kinda did right there). They’re far too strange, quirky and a little experimental to be lined up among those usual suspects. And really, it’s a hell of a lot easier to just describe what they sound like than try to siphon out their influences. At times a little techy, at others really creative, they use a wide range of noises, two drum kits, guitar and melodic choruses to get their lush, evolving sound. more ›

What’s the Deal: It’s such a perfect name for this New York foursome. It implies the group may sport a sort of eccentric experimentalism in their music, which they do, as well as a tendency to burst into frenzy and ferocity, which they also do at moments both expected and not throughout select tracks. The group is still relatively young, with at least two of the members having graduated from High School in 2006, but musically they are much more advanced and mature than many who have been filling our airwaves with recycled simplicity for 10 years. You could say they lucked out with the buzz status and favorable reviews they earned in 2009 with Why There Are Mountains (like an 8.3 and an endorsement as “Best New Music “ on Pitchfork), but it wasn’t luck at all. more ›