Alternative

Record Label: Jeepster Style: Pop

Over the course of four years, THE BEETS have become one of the best bands, if not the best band, in New York. With two full-length LPs and three singles on NY label Captured Tracks under their belt, and an amazing live show to boot, it is no wonder why t Record Label: Hardly Art Style: Independent

Vinyl comes in gorgeous gatefold packaging and includes a high quality MP3 download of the album. Most people assume that when a band makes it-that is, reaches a critical mass of listeners, where shows across the country get packed, where the big festivals come calling, where placement on year-end lists seems preemptively settled-the work stops. It's as if all the hours spent writing and rehearsing, tacking flyers to utility poles or maintaining forever-multiplying social media platforms suddenly switch off as some vaunted rock-star lifestyle switches on. And in some cases, maybe it does; then again, BEAR IN HEAVEN's never been about easy expectations of normalcy. After the release of their second album, 2010's "Beast Rest Forth Mouth", big things began to happen for the Brooklyn trio of Jon Philpot, Joe Stickney and AdamWills, from the aforementioned accolades to an electrifying collection of remixes featuring some of electronic music's heaviest hitters, like THE FIELD and STUDIO. As if in a transatlantic dream, they even split a single with Norway's Lindstrom and Christabelle, who covered their calling card, "Lovesick Teenagers." But BEAR IN HEAVEN didn't settle for the new well of notoriety they'd opened. Rather, they played some 200 shows in support of "Beast Rest Forth Mouth" - touring the world, playing bigger rooms, building an intricate stage show that turned an album into a synesthetic experience. When it was over, they retrenched in Brooklyn and, during the dead of summer, retreated to a chilly practice space to work harder than they'd ever worked on any other project. They wrote, re-wrote, arranged, re-arranged, spending days or weeks building one song at a time. After months of testing their limits and trusting their instincts, BEAR IN HEAVEN emerged with "I Love You, It's Cool", an album so vivid and visionary that it meets and even exceeds the confidence and calm its title suggests. The intricacy and edge of BEAR IN HEAVEN's music is here but sharper and more sophisticated than ever before. Philpot's programming is complex and compelling, whether in the refracted rainbows he warps on "Kiss Me Crazy" or the noisy matrix he weaves across "Space Remains." Certainly, "The Reflection of You" feels like a hit, with a hook that instantly catches and a bridge that curls its finger-lyrically, stylistically, temptingly-toward the dance floor. Philpot's mix of nostalgia and need is immediately relatable, bringing the band's exploratory sounds a little closer back to home. But the song exits in a moment spacerock ascendance, a readymade rock-club banger that erupts in a bold new direction. "I Love You, It's Cool" is the first time BEAR IN HEAVEN has sounded so unapologetic and so evolved, so risky and so redeeming, so focused and so finessed. After years of restless exploration, this feels like a definitive arrival. "I Love You, It's Cool" is music written in the present tense but ready to speak to the future. The work is its own rarified reward. David Wrench engineered and mixed "I Love You, It's Cool" during two months at New York's DNA. Roberto Lange, Rhys Chatham, James Elliott and Agathe Max contributed to the sounds. Dead Oceans and Hometapes will partner to co-release "I Love You, It's Cool Style: Independent

Record Label: XL/Beggars Group Style: Alternative Rock

Ltd. Edition on CLEAR VINYL. BBQ is Mark Sultan's solo project (King Kahn & BBQ, Los Sexareenos, The Spaceshits, etc) and it's the best one-man band since Wilbert Harrison (and no, we're not forgetting the Legendary Stardust Cowboy...), doing a raw, soul- Record Label: Bomp Style: Garage Rock

Hold On, Life Is For Living, Hymn, Love On The Line, The Song (They Love To Sing) Style: Rock/Pop

Released in March of 2006, Band of Horses' debut Everything All the Time made good on the promise hinted at in their early shows and demos. The band went from early shows opening for friends Iron & Wine, to playing on The Late Show with David Letterman by Style: Independent

Record Label: Western Vinyl Style: Indie Rock

Record Label: Western Vinyl Style: Independent

Style: Americana

New full length of this groundbreaking canadian duo! AUN's previous travels took the duo to space, hell and back. Now home to tackle more earthly concerns 'Phantom Ghost' shows AUN at its most complex and determined, but also at its most accessible, while Style: Independent

Style: Independent

Two years after the release of their highly acclaimed self-titled debut-album the ATTENTION! from Vienna, Austria return with a BANG! delivering their brandnew longplayer 'Gettin' all ...' to those who are desperately waiting for more insane dance action and give the bleached out face of classic r'n'b a bright new robe. Those guys celebrate the mod-aesthetics of the swingin sixties in perfection. Stylish from head to toe they deliver a frantic mixture of traditional blues, soul, beat and r'n'b to all the smart dancers worldwide and re-create a sound which hasn't been heard since those glory days of acts like Bo Diddley, the ANIMALS, the YARDBIRDS, THEM and the SPENCER DAVIS GROUP. Did you ever shake your tailfeather to the sound of Rock'n-Roll!? Well, here's your chance - THE ATTENTION! - five lads, armed with their love for Rhythm&Blues, fuse their infectious beats, catchy riffs and haunting melodies into an explosive, one-of-a-kind mix, that makes you wanna shout and shimmy! These five hipsters learned their lessons in bluesy licks, soulful shouts and pumping rhythms frighteningly well. So watch out for the heatwave that is called THE ATTENTION! rolling over your town. Make sure to put on your finest pair of dancing shoes and celebrate! Just a handful of bands like THE JAYBIRDS, THE WHAT...FOR! and THE MOVING SOUNDS were able to capture the spirit of the distinctive r'n'b sound as precise as THE ATTENTION! YOU WILL SHOUT AND SHIMMY!!! Record Label: Screaming Apple Style: Garage Rock

Record Label: Damaged Goods

Style: Rock/Alternative

Apache Dropout is a full on lysergic boogie trio from Southern Indiana who've self-released a handful of recordings while touring the sub-U.S.during the past couple years. Finally, their debut LP is here to catch you up with their three-minute-&-less anth Record Label: Family Vineyard Style: Independent

With six officially released albums, two more in the can, four probably-never-to-see-the-light-of-day records in his closet, a few live albums on the shelf-culled from literally five years of straight touring-and a Myspace song-a-day project, the quietly Style: Independent

Record Label: Grand Hotel van Cleef Style: Alternative Rock

Over 20 years ago Rob Miller turned his back on the world, settled in the remote location of the Isle of Skye, and against the rugged backdrop of the Cuillins, became a self-taught sword smith. History saw Amebix become a casualty of their cult success co Record Label: Easy Action Style: Punk/Hardcore

ALFA 9 formed several years ago in Newcastle-under-Lyme (nr. Stoke) and since then their relentless gigging and dedication has paid off, wowing the local scene with their psychedelic live shows and playing to sell-out audiences. Now just signed to Blow Up Record Label: Blow Up Style: Independent