Chicago-based duo Hobbyist are no noobs when it comes to creating a weirdo sound of their own. They formed the strange electronica project, I Luv Luv Birds, back in '04 but dropped the name and started anew as Hobbyist. As a garage-y indie rock band, Holly Prindle sings and Marc Mozga provides the guitar, bass, melodica, and drum machine programming. They've just released their first full-length as Hobbyist, a self-titled, angsty ride that ... Read More

It's been six years since Patty Griffin released an album of new material. Yeah, she did a way cool Gospel album (which won a Grammy) then recorded and toured with Robert Plant's Band of Joy but no new stuff since '07's stand out Children Running Through. Well, girlfriend is back with what I consider to be her most personal album yet and it's in tribute to her recently departed father. Although Ms. Griffin is identified as an ... Read More

AroarA, a Canadian husband and wife duo comprised of Andrew Whiteman (Broken Social Scene) and Ariel Engle (Land of Kush), bring us a most exquisite debut entitled In the Pines. This EP is part of a forthcoming album and adaptation of Alice Notley’s book of poems of the same name. Each song corresponds with one of the poems and contains words and phrases in the lyrics. If the EP is any indication, the release of the full-length ... Read More

On their sophomore album, Portland-based Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside cull the best bits from music’s past eras, creating a mercurial hybrid of rockabilly, blues, country, and garage rock. Ford’s vocals have just enough of a worn edge to sound appropriately world-weary and jaded, but she’s smooth enough in her delivery to pull off sweeter, poppier tracks. Catchy “They Told Me” brings to mind the tight hooks of fellow retro ... Read More

Though she sounds melancholy on her beautifully solemn debut Ripely Pine, Aly Spaltro has something to celebrate. As Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, she offers up a winning new brand of Southern discomfort (though she’s from the North), with tastes of pop, folk, and Americana. The album begins with a guitar slowly strumming sorrow, as if Spaltro is quietly waiting for the pain to go away while offering up lyrics like, “Love is ... Read More