Maïa Vidal is living out the bohemian cousin of the American dream. The 24-year-old Californian booked it for Europe after her college graduation and never looked back, honing her chops on the accordion, violin, and toy piano while living abroad in Paris and Barcelona. Any chanteuse who sounds as though she could singlehandedly take on the Amélie soundtrack is OK in my book, and in that regard, Vidal’s effortlessly offbeat style ... Read More

If you like mysteriously dark yet candy-sweet indie pop, Chaos Chaos’s S is the EP for you. Chaos Chaos is comprised of multitalented Brooklynite sisters Chloe and Asy Saavedra, formerly child stars of the indie pop band Smoosh. They play an array of instruments, including synthesizers, acoustic piano, many different types of drums, and saxophone, and they also use experimental vocals. Like BUST favorite Amanda Palmer, they ... Read More

L.A. singer-songwriter AG (of the Rescues), industry giant Maia Sharp, and Missouri musician Garrison Starr are touring together, and, believe me, you want to see this show. AG,  Sharp, and Starr are all expert writers and performers who merge a variety of influences, including folk, pop, rock, and Americana, to create their own individual styles. I had the good luck to see them perform together at New York’s Rockwood Music Hall ... Read More

Jumping seamlessly from style to style and interweaving elements from garage rock, ’60s girl groups, and cabaret, the music of Austin-based duo Agent Ribbons is hard to classify. On Let Them Talk, the band takes a lighter turn than on its past two full-lengths and embraces the whimsical side of its twisted-fairytale style. Opener “Family Haircut” begins with ethereal “oohs” sung over ominous drums, but soon ... Read More

When Rupa Marya isn’t healing the sick as a doctor at her day job, she leads the world-music quintet Rupa and the April Fishes. Their newest album, BUILD, is produced by Todd Sickafoose — best known for collaborating with folk songstress Ani DiFranco — and promises the gritty, bass-heavy folk realness that is Sickafoose's trademark. Based in sunny San Francisco, the band's members come from all over the world to ... Read More