Last week saw the release of the Uncluded's new album Hokey Fright, but who are the Uncluded? Well, they are none other than Kimya Dawson (from every song on the Juno soundtrack) and Aesop Rock (from every good hip hop song that's not on the radio). The partnership is as odd as pairing Tom Waits with Zooey Deschanel. But surprisingly, Hokey Fright sounds exactly as one would expect: it's half nursery-rhyme-type melodies and  half indie hip hop, and it's all...

"Want a little grace, but who’s gonna say a little grace for me?” Ezra Koenig sings on “Unbelievers,” the second track on Vampire Weekend’s new Modern Vampires of the City. Since landing on the cover of Spin in March 2008, lauded as “the year’s best new band” with a debut album that was just weeks old, it’s easy to argue that Vampire Weekend has received quite a bit of grace. The success of their self-titled debut quickly propelled the Columbia...

As artists like David Bowie and The Stooges have already proven this year, it is possible for musicians to return and release new albums after long lapses in creative output – but judging how good they are (or aren't) is no easy feat. In the cases of both Bowie and The Stooges, history has basically guaranteed that that both artists are going to generate at least a few good critical words no matter what they do on the strength of...

Sometimes providence is just meant to rule over situations in life. Things are meant to happen. People meet people. Stories are shared. Songs get sung. This is the way things went in getting this album into my hands. Online strangers meet each other by re-blogging each other’s Tumblr images (for a couple of years) before eventually ending up writing notes of introduction to each other, leading them to become friends. That was how I came into contact with Michael Serrafin-Wells,...

Of Love and Loss, the new record from NYC-based Bipolar Explorer is something of a departure from their previous work, it is at once quieter and more far-reaching. It is eclectic and spare, and altogether haunting. The band, it turns out, was already staking out new ground before they recorded the first wave of songs for what would become this record. Having pared down to a drummerless core of two guitars, bass and vocals, BPX’s new sound was emerging as...

Listening to The Baptist Generals' new album, it seems like it should be important to take a quick look at the history of the label which put it out (Sub Pop) to really understand the release's importance. Founded in Seattle in the mid-Eighties, Sub Pop's original mission was to try and get some of the band's which were springing up around the Pacific Northwest a bit of exposure but, when grunge exploded and bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney suddenly...

After so many years spent as one of the most popular rock acts in Canada, it might be hard for fans to remember where Sloan started musically and what really contributed to the band's sound. Really, no one can be faulted for that; most of Sloan's popular notice came when they were writing smart alt-pop songs like “The Good In Everyone,” “The Lines You Amend,” “She Says What She Means,” “Money City Maniacs” and “Losing California” – after they had...

If American listeners have any broad familiarity with Charli XCX, it’s most likely thanks to her work on Swedish dance pop duo Icona Pop’s “I Love It” – XCX co-wrote and lent her vocals to the rousing dance anthem.  With the release of True Romance the British singer is working, for the most part, on her own (Brooke Candy appears on the track “Cloud Aura”), and in greyer shades than the black and white of “I Love It.” Born in...

Heyheyhey junky, Awright, I know I usually take a bitta time ta talk some trash right off da top o' my SWAG Reports, but dis week I'm gonna skippit cuz I got somethin' ta talk about. "Whatever might you have to discuss with us Donnie," ya ask? New Black Flag! At's right, ya heard me, ya punk, new moogerfoogin' Black Flag! I guess Greg Ginn put tagetha a buncha guys ta call Black Flag (Greg Moore's playin' drums, Dave Klin's...

It took a couple of formative years and releases to really get settled and established, but Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine has found its rhythm and released a new, instantly classic album in White People and the Damage Done. Those readers who have heard about this album but haven't actually heard any of the music yet may be skeptical, but one listen will prove that this is Biafra's best release in a quarter-century. There will be no...