Amy Linton, indie pop/rock songwriter extraordinaire…and, damn, can she play the drums! You see, I love Amy from her days in the long defunct Henry’s Dress. Now we are blessed to hear her in the Aisler’s Set doing simple, pleasant songs tinged with the sounds of the ’50s and ’60s.
Eyes Like Knives
Urgent, angular post-post punk with boy versus girl vocals not unlike their neighbors in Boston who quietly redefined rock music some twenty years ago.
Oddjobs
While their older material was oddly bouyant conscious hip-hop, Oddjobs’ latest (“Hypnotize”) turns down a dark alley toward straight-up griot poetry.
Division of Laura Lee
Meet the Swedish offspring of Blur and the Stooges. (I meant that musically, you perv.)
Intuit
German duo enlist flamboyant Brazilian vocalists to add their smooth touch to this shimmering, summery jazz track.
The Silent League
The former keyboardist for Mercury Rev creates his own sweetly damaged sway-songs for kids who prefer Brooklyn to the metropolis across the river.
Charles Kamm
Charles Kamm writes songs that sound like a Wes Anderson film: poignant glimpses into the serio-comic lives of the lonely-hearted.
Langhorne Slim
Sly, absurdist bluegrass from the borough of Brooklyn (natch). How can you not smile at a couplet like, “But when she danced/The monkey filled her pants?”
Oranger
Oranger are just plain old fun — a bunch of guys who sat around listening to the Kinks, the 13th Floor Elevators, and Al Green as teenagers (hey, who didn’t?) — although they’re pushing into more pop these days.
Ralph Carney
The easy explanation: he’s smoking something.