"People are always afraid to be sad, but I think it's alright, you know?" Melancholy soaked folk singer songstress, Sharon Van Etten said in her interview with us, after performing a few of her signature acoustic teardrop rose colored songs at Baeble's Guest Apartment. The sweet as an easily bruised peaches singer-songwriter talked of her inspirations, influences, aspirations and the beauty of a fluid live show.

With the release of our latest concert from reggae-pop star Sean Bones comes another gift from us--the chance to win a copy of Sean Bones' album, Rings, with a bit of help from our friends at Frenchkiss Records. We're giving you the chance to win one of two autographed copies of the sassy, smart, urban meets beach, pop meets roots record.

A confession: reggae scares me. Not scare as in whimpering in fear because of its sound, but rather hailing from the sun soaked lazy beach vibe of Southern California makes me wary of anything that suggests the same. Multitalented Sean Sullivan, better known as Sam Champion guitarist/fashion designer/part time actor/friends with Norah Jones/the current heavy pop and reggae with a thoroughly modern strut frontman of Sean Bones and his show at Piano's trampled the fear with his inherently hip and distinctively listenable reggae songs.

Out of work therapists might want to send a "thank you" card to Moby for their recent loss. Why? The legendary dance titan has just released his latest offering Wait For Me; an album that features 16 tracks that almost any depressed individual will find they relate to.

Tired of your day to day surroundings? Then it might be time to escape from your rigid world and enter the realm of Peggy Sue.

Version two has arrived. Franz Ferdinand has just released a new take on the video for "No You Girls," off their album, Tonight.

Bowerbirds are partly grand orchestra arrangement and time travel sensitive tones of Beirut, partly minimalist dark tension in strings and words of Bon Iver, and pieces of the storytelling and elaborations of The Decemberists. On their sophomore album, Upper Air, the Bowerbirds show their own voice wrapped within these woodland rich songs that carry traces of their influences, blended with a pop sensibility that makes it an album grandiose yet simply perfect for their crafted songwriting.

Music is perhaps the best way to understand the zeitgeist of a time and place, and nowhere is that more true than with pop music in America. At our best, we are a country that's really good at what we do, and even better at exporting it abroad. Our hit tunes are so pervasive that not only do they get stuck in our heads for weeks at a time, not only is 30% of this generation's grade school memories hopelessly made up of NSYNC lyrics even though we swear we were trying to learn math, but in the days of the Iron Curtain, dogged entrepreneurs were trying to smuggle in equal parts food and Michael Jackson CDs.

Finally 2am rolled around and Thunderheist started their set. They began with new tracks to warm up the audience, but soon after launched into some old favorites that drove the die-hard fans wild. Even if you were a first time listener, the band had a way of pulling you into their dance vibe and keeping you there until the end of the show.

The crowd was swaying, the disco ball was spinning, and eight shaggy-haired performers in flowing garments sang their hearts out and played their instruments with an infectious enthusiasm that made everyone want to let the sunshine in, despite the late hour. And no, we're not talking about a revival of Hair. The Phenomenal Handclap Band brought their funkadelic sermonizing to Santos Party House for the record release party of their self-titled debut.

Much ado has been made about the soullessness of today's music scene. Honesty takes a back seat to drum machines and heart is sacrificed on the altar of ultimate coolness. But wait, there's hope! Quit losing your religion, don't fear the reaper, skip the Hail Marys, and give your sinning bodies over to The Phenomenal Handclap Band.

Happy Friday music lovers. On this week's T.G.I.Mixtape, the 20th in our series, we have some great songs from some artists just emerging onto the scene as well as from some more established talent. We would also like to say that we are all truly saddened by the recent pacing of one of the biggest music icons of all time, the king of pop, Michael Jackson. Rest In Peace. -Greg Lozoff

Here are some things you should know about Piney Gir (pronounced like girl): she is from Kansas, she sings songs that are vaguely country, with a touch of indie elctronica, she wears big poofy dresses, and her new single Of All the Wonderful Things is a music box of absurdly sweet melody and daisy flower lyrics that could have been plucked out of The Sound of Music.

Who knew starting a fire could be so safe and enjoyable? Sounds a bit odd, but in Jaguar Love's new video, "I Started A Fire," the retro '80s pop song makes fire seem less dangerous and more like a piece of hot pink bubble gum

It sure doesn't feel like slow motion. Girls' new video for "Hellhole RatRace," a song which has been around for at least a year, might be shot at an alarming slow pace, but the amount you experience is endless. The partying begins with a few cigarettes and sips of wine, but turns into a night of shoplifting, popping champagne, making out, taking pills and late night dining. And you thought you could party all night long!

Mia Riddle sings with a blemished dark beauty that transfigures her solitary guitar melodies and precious, vulnerable voice into an experience, tucked behind ordinary moments and scenes, speaking volumes far greater than certain of her quiet melodies may have you believe.

Choir of Young Believers are not, in fact, a choir of religious boys, but rather Danish Jannis Noya Makrigiannis's gospel influenced, grand indiepop vision. But don't let the religious suggestions throw you off. Choir of Young Believers only take on the most beautiful, soft sacred echoes of the gospel choir and infuse them into their dark tinged orchestra pop melodies. This is as solemn as it is precious, spilling light from stained glass windows, lonesome from cold Scandinavian grounds.

Decode this! Fever Ray's new video for the song, "Triangle Walls", off their self-titled album, requires some contemplation. We have sat here and watched the video continuously, pondering the contrived meaning of the video. The spooky, black and white video dominated mainly by geometric shapes has stumped us. Your guess is just as good as ours!

It's lonely flying solo. In my case, on this night, I'm criminally close to the edge of a stage that spreads its' wings like the deck of an aircraft carrier...the tapered, golden dome of Radio City Music Hall lofting above me. Kind of isolating actually, watching one of the world's great theaters slowly fill to capacity.

But my seat is plush; its big and rather comfy, and the carpet feels decadently thick and soft under my feet. I'm comfortable, and in a moment I'll be even more so as I, along with 6000 other people in the theater, will soon settle in to an evening of the divine, lead by an absolute wizard of a musician in Mr. Andrew Bird.

Five piece electro-indiepop Massachusetts natives Passion Pit have grown upfrom much hyped, obscure Next Big Thing indie darling to It band with two sold out shows at the Bowery Ballroom this past weekend, armed with plenty of keyboards, drum machines and guitars for a crowd of over eager believers.

Stuart Murdoch's newest brilliant project God Help the Girl is what its tag suggests: a narrative sang from classic female characters who each hit precisely the voice and personality that carry Belle & Sebastian's subtle wit and irony laced indiepop with an all out, retro pop glamour. But it's not simply a side project, each of the songs from God Help the Girl stands on its own as a classic, with a rose-sepia tone, a charming world with a vintage touch and storyline rich and vivid.

Sufjan Stevens. If you're out there, Soy Un Caballo would very much like to work with you. It's but one fun fact this exclusive interview with Aurlie Muller and Thomas Van Cottom reveals. We won't spoil the rest...

We weren't prepared to find ourselves so incredibly charmed when first we invited Belgium duo Soy Un Caballo by the Baeble Guest Apartment. We knew very little of this Belgium couple, save those tunes offered on their MySpace, and a few fun facts involving past collaborations with the likes of Conor Oberst, Tunng, and Will Oldham. Of course musicians of this mark don't share their craft with just anyone... which says a lot about this band, even if you, like us, are new to Soy Un Caballo.

Though you'll have to wait another week for the full concert performance, this exclusive interview with Sean Sullivan - aka Sean Bones - provides a taste of the icky sticky, white boy grooves he and his band dispensed at Piano's last month, as well as takes reggae fans inside the recording process of his soon to be released album Rings, his motivations for recording the album, and his overall goals for the project.

After a bang-up job at Music Hall Of Williamsburg, Phoenix set some pretty high expectations for their Friday night show at Terminal Five.

Another in a recent slew of bands shooting for longevity, Dinosaur Jr. had a bumpy path to rejuvenation, breaking up in the late nineties and staying that way for almost a decade. But there is something about the chemistry of these three; J Mascis, Lou Barlow, and Murph mesh in the same way on Beyond as they did in the eighties, and follow-up Farm is proof it wasn't just a coincidence last time around.

Want to take a dip into the more experimental end of the indie pool? Well hold your nose and drown inside the depths of acoustic guitar sounds, larger-than-life amplified effects, and bluesy vocals that San Diego's Castanets plans to offer up on their upcoming album.

Finally, Tim Burton has made a music video. Well not really, but Broken Records recent video for the song, "Until The Earth Begins To Part", off the album, Until The Earth Begins To Part, reminds us of the cartoon figurines in Burton's, Nightmare Before Christmas.

We only see the walls of a corroded building for most of the time, but Viva Voce's new video is far from rotten. The video for "Octavio", from their recently released album,Rose City, resembles a haunted house minus the murderers. Instead there are creepy dolls, infested walls and mysterious keys hanging from the battered ceilings. We promise you will not scream, but maybe it's best to keep the lights on while watching.

I swear, in Mount Eerie's new album Wind's Poem, you'll hear nature in all its' glory, sing to you. Featuring song titles such as "Winds Dark Poem", "Through the Trees", and "Mouth of Sky", the twelve track album effectively brings the stationary world around us to life. Now you can listen to the forest without ever leaving the room.

murder mystery
Like a boyscout, I was fully prepared for going to the Northside Music Festival in Brooklyn. I had my wallet, ID, camera, and glasses with no lenses to make myself seem cooler.

Deastro is a master at creating alternative worlds, full of colors and miniscule shapes spiraling into new patterns and formations, bells and twinkles and hundreds of electronic noises mashing into pop. More than that, though, more than the layers of spacey fantasy sounds and images that Moondagger paints, these are genuine, relatable pop songs.

Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee is unrivaled in terms of sheer perseverance - 80,000 attendees grab their tents and tie-dye T-shirts and pledge their full commitment to what becomes either an epic entry among lost weekends, or the highlight of a summer. We present you with a rundown of the top five shows (excluding big names such as Snoop Dogg, Phish, and The Boss, because what can we say about the "earth-shaking, baby-making, Viagara-taking" E Street Band that you don't already know?

It's just simply not the sort of thing you hear very often, a cello orchestra playing indie rock songs alongside classical pieces, covering Britney Spears or working with Horse Feathers, creating melodramatic orchestra songs next to indie gems with a distinct Portland sensibility. But that's exactly what the Portland Cello Project (PCP) aims to do.

Forget the glitz and glam, all you need is three people creatively dancing in front of a green screen to have a hit video. The new Micachu and the Shapes video for "Golden Phone," off of their debut album, Jewellery, is about as simple as a video can be, but the bubble gum song could not have been displayed any better.

A band on bikes surrounded by destruction makes for a rebellious music video. Howling Bells new video for "Cities Burning Down" off of their recent album, Radio Wars, features the band, mostly wearing all black, riding motorcycles while dark, ominous clouds harp over them. Eventually fire comes, obliterating all that is behind them. We wouldn't recommend getting into a brawl with this group.

Metric has established themselves as the kind of band that can do almost anything: bouncy dance anthems, scathing social commentary, and seriously touching moments - often in the same song. As any member of the sweaty and satisfied crowd streaming out of Terminal 5 and into this summer's persistent New York City rain this Wednesday could testify, the ability to completely own a live show sits prominently in that arsenal.

Swedish singer songwriter Bobby Baby's songs are without irony, but plenty of guitars on clouds, electronica air pop from dreams, nostalgia flavored, as pretty to listen to as they are to consider.

Have no fear, the mixtape is here! We were almost tempted to make this week's mixtape (the 19th volume in our T.G.I.Mixtape series) double sided as we have so much great new music that we are dying to share with you, but we managed to control ourselves. 20 amazing songs all at once could be a bit overwhelming for some, so instead sit back, relax and concentrate on these 10 gems until next Friday when we will have 10 more new ones for you. Have a great weekend!

Forget capitalism, we want socialism! If this isn't what you are vehemently chanting after seeing Street Sweeper Social Club live at the Gramercy Theater this past Tuesday, we have extreme doubts you went to the same show.

If you're skeptical whether Sonic Youth can still rock out sixteen albums later, look no further than this video for "Sacred Trickster". Spunky and to the point, this is the shortest song on The Eternal. It's aptly placed at the beginning, so when it leaves you wanting more, the rest of the album is there to deliver. The video, shot in snarky, cut-heavy, Modern Love is Automatic style, matches the song perfectly.

Devotees of the Spencer Krug Guild of Tormented Canadian Wailing rejoice! Sunset Rubdown's third CD is here, and it's worth every bit of geeking out the name implies. Dragonslayer's world is a dark and epic one, a sprawling kingdom under a tumultuous sky that's always threatening to storm.

Feeling melancholy today, but blissful tomorrow? Seems Throw Me the Statue will have both contradicting emotions covered when they release their upcoming album Creaturesque. With somber lyrics trading shots with the band's always, lovable pop tunes, the album should be an awfully therapeutic listen when its' released on August 4th.

The Phenomenal Handclap Band demonstrates their "acid soul rock" in their video "You'll Disappear" from their new, self-titled debut in drifting incense, hand motions and a none ironic authentic love of their instruments.

Can love persevere through anything? Not according to Cursive's new video, "I Couldn't Love You", off of their recent album, "Mama, I'm Swollen". The video begins with the sound of a woman's deep breath and the image of men in tuxedos grabbing their guns preparing for battle. You can only wonder what happens next.

Missing some dreamy vocals? Well, Anna Ternheim - a Baeble favorite - is back. Verve Forecast is set to release Ternheim's third album, Leaving on a Mayday, on August 11th.

Charlie Darwin was a misunderstood man. A lonely man. A man with a lot of big ideas, and not enough people who listened to them. At least, not to the ones that mattered. The ones about lost loves, the ones carried in between tender strings of forgotten instruments, the spaces between words and the echoes of poetic sounds, sandwiched between the rough and raw, explosions of gutsy blues or delicate folk of The Low Anthem's album Oh My God, Charlie Darwin.

Jenny Owens Youngs, on the surface, shares a similar name and style to indie rock's sweetheart, Jenny Lewis, but this Jenny has a dark edge that makes her smart, wit infused pop songs less predictable. Her sassy, honest songs convey emotions just as well as acidic charm.

When Norwegian indie-pop-punker Ida Maria stomped on stage at the Hiro Ballroom this past Friday, in her gold and sparkles studded shirt and jacket, glowing with her fierce, unrelenting sass, her audience reacted with astonishing enthusiasm that overtook the Japanese lantern lit venue like nothing else.

Deastro chatted with Baeble in an exclusive interview about the transfiguration of their lo-fi, home recorded electronica sound and its adjustment to a grander, collective live show, the concert experience and that necessary connection with an audience.

22-year-old Randy Chabot has a vision; a rainbow particle painted, experimental pop, tiny invisible robots orchestrating, vision that has become the sound behind the Detroit based, full fledged band Deastro. Deastro brought their sprinkles of dreamy fantasy, electronic pop, weighted down to earth with melodies and heartfelt lyrics, to the Baeble Guest Apartment.

The new video for "A Volta" from NASA's from their album The Spirit of Apollo is an incredible animated film, dripping with violence and with tribute to video games, that manages to capture the action of a graphic game, narrate a complete storyline and of course, showcase the soundtrack of NASA...

The Morakestra are twin brothers from El Paso, Texas who grew up learning guitar together, and infuse their separate but identical voices and talents in the band. Taking influenced from post hardcore artists like Sparta and At the Drive-In, (no surprise, given that legendary musician Jim Ward and his work with the aforementioned bands produced the album), The Morakestra adds modern indie and psychedelic for a subdued indie rock in their upcoming album, Witness to Connection.

Andrew Bird has become the indie rock icon of a songwriting genius, his elaborate songs masterpieces in composition and startlingly profound lyrics, elaborate strings that escalate, complex and yet recognizable as individual brilliant pop songs. The Chicago musician has come a long way since his first album released over ten years ago, playing sold out shows world wide and still impressing audiences with his myriad of talents, instruments and storytelling in between the plucked violins and whistles.

The first listen of Cage the Elephant's defiant, sassy, self-titled debut album is by all means a raucous one. Lively and uninhibited, Cage the Elephant, is from first to last utterly enjoyable. Unimpressed? See how many other contemporary albums you can listen to from beginning to end without pressing shuffle.

It's impossibly hard to find pop music in these days. You know, real pop music, not gimmicked superficial electro pop or scruffy, foggy indie rock, but the sort that stands on a strong melody, uncomplicated lyrics that are just perfect, the sort that calls to find the simplistic beauty of decades past. But if anyone can capture that unblemished sensibility, it'd be Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian and his new project, God Help the Girl.

Camera Obscura has always embodied the classic Glasglow indiepop sound, filled with rich 60's inspired pop melodies and characterized by Tracyanne's unmistakable voice, sweet but tinged with melancholy. Their latest album, My Maudlin Career shows their evolution from their original sentimental and heartbreak soaked songs into brighter, grander, more confident sentimental and heartbreak stained pop.

Looking for the summer's most rebellious rock outfit? The search might be over. Take the crisp, satirical rhymes of Boots Riley, and the innovative, sharp riffs of Tom Morello and there you have it: Street Sweeper Social Club. Featuring Riley on vocals, Morello on guitar/bass, and drummer Stanton Moore, SSSC's self titled debut provides an extra adrenaline rush of danger that every music junky should feel pulsing through their bodies when the moment's right.

The Low Anthem are all around. Just recently we Interviewed the band, and also featured them in our Baeble Guest Apartment. We are not the only ones who have spotted them. So have The New York Times, in a recent article.

Imagine walking through the gates of a theme park while listening to indie music on your ipod...stoned. Sounds sort of perfect, right? Well, you can do all of that without even leaving home, thanks in part to The Silent Years recent album, Let Go.

We caught the Low Anthem hustling down to Bonnaroo. That alone should serve a pretty solid indication of the promising trajectory this Rhode Island trio appear to be traveling. The other? An incredibly romantic batch of wooded folk tunes titled Oh My God, Charlie Darwin.

There is something distinctive about Swedish indiepop, something innate that coats everything in a cotton candy glossy pop melt, a joyous cutesiness that might seem contrived in another context, but for the Swedes, comes without any effort. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, much of Scandinavian indiepop carries a faint melancholy edge (perhaps a defense against, then a reaction to their long winters). Stockholm based Lacrosse exemplifies both of these qualities with incredible enthusiasm in their sophomore album Bandages for the Heart.

True to Animal Collective's usual psychedelic, expansive musical experience, their new video for "Summertime Clothes" from their latest album Merriweather Post Pavillion is a colors shifting, pupils dilated replica of a hallucinogenic experience, dancers in bubbles and swirls of colors and images.

Happy Friday everyone! What's the best thing to do on a rainy day when going outside is the last thing you want to do? If you're anything like us here at Baeble, you know that the answer is kicking back, getting comfy and putting on some of your favorite music. Some people like to stick to sad, rainy day music to go along with the weather, while others like to try and liven the mood with something a little more upbeat. On the latest edition of our T.G.I.Mixtape series we give you a little bit of both. So kick back, relax and enjoy your weekend.-Greg Lozoff

Tiny Vipers, aka Jesy Fortino, is a dark acoustic songstress with songs that stand on the beauty of her voice and words.

Photography by Mo Pitz. Check out more photos from this show and others HERE.
When it comes to lyrical might, few MC's toe the line with LA lyricist Busdriver. His is a lickity split delivery; one that's both hyper-intelligent, and highly hysterical for those who can keep pace. Seriously. This dude makes the micro-machine man seem quietly sedated...and, of course, we mean that in a loving way.

We caught the Low Anthem hustling down to Bonnaroo. That alone should serve a pretty solid indication of the promising trajectory this Rhode Island trio appear to be traveling. The other? An incredibly romantic batch of wooded folk tunes titled Oh My God, Charlie Darwin.

The San Francisco based four piece The Dry Spells self describe their sound as "a bird riding a horse through the Great Plains." This might suggest overly cute, acoustic based hippie folk music, but The Dry Spells are utterly refreshing.

Sharon Van Etten's album, Because I Was In Love is the trembling frail rose, bruised with rain drops and wavering in a cold breeze, its color stripped to a minimal blush, thorns exposed, vulnerable, desperate and impossibly beautiful.

Who knew singing through your nose could sound so good? Though he might sound like a teenage boy about to hit puberty, The Strange Boys on Myspace, Ryan Sambol, along with drummer Matt Hammer, bassist, Philip Sambol and guitarist Greg Enlow, create a glorious, 16 track album that's the most flawlessly unpolished effort we've heard since the Black Lips' latest album.

Watching an extremely chubby Andy Milonakis parade around the streets with his face covered in blood and scabs makes for one of the most uncomfortable music videos to watch eyes wide open.

The Dirty Projectors tread a fine line in between the realms of experimental "freak folk" and complex, melody driven pop music. Luckily for the Brooklyn based band, their latest album, Bitte Orca (Domino), finds the high point of both worlds. With their intricately layered arrangements and harmonies, the album inspires not genre definitions, but instead a sure to be classic collection of beautifully crafted, bittersweet songs.

After These United States tried a bit of the good old fashioned busking in Washington Square Park with Baeble, we're giving one of you a chance to win an autographed copy of their psychedelic folk pop album, Crimes...

Here's something we wish we could do every day. In our latest interview, Baeble had the awesome opportunity to pull up a chair with none other than Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello and The Coup's Boots Riley; two titans who have always stood alone in their respective fields.

Jesse Elliott recently rolled through our NYC stomping grounds, bringing both his marvelous namesake and brilliant band These United States (Colin Kellogg - Bass, Robby Cosenza - Drums, Justin Craig - Guitars, Tom Hnatow - Multi-Instrumentalist) along for the ride. Having followed the trajectory of this DC ensemble for the last two years, the idea of having access to this band not only got us teeming with excitement, but also moved us to take the show to people.

To dismiss Sonic Youth as irrelevant is musically oblivious. These noise rockers practically created the genre of alternative in the eighties. Over the past ten years the band has rewarded fans with new material, despite their age; Sonic Youth never grows old. They've existed in several different incarnations, very DIY at first, sometimes label driven, moving to major label Geffen earlier in the decade. Finally in 2007, their frustrations led them to reputable record purveyor Matador, and their newfound harmonious relationship has proven prolific.

The born in London, Liverpool based and of Irish origin Eugene McGuinness carries on an indie rock tradition that of the literate singer-songwriter with a recognizable voice, pieces of the raw expression of Neutral Milk Hotel or The Mountain Goats, with a touch of the fantastic story telling of The Decemberists in surprisingly varied pop songs.

Ahas not been well in the world of collaborations. In fact, a dark battle has been raging just below the surface. On one side: a whimsical producer whose hip-hop projects have generated equal parts delight and controversy, a reclusive singer-songwriter whose overflow of talent compensates for his lack of legs, and a brilliant director infamous for darkly surreal, avant-garde, instantly recognizable films. On the other: a hungry colossus in the form of a record company. Is it a dream? No, it's Dark Night of the Soul.

Portland based, flannel wearing indie popsters Blind Pilot are college friends who yes, use a Wordpress blog as their band website, write postcards to their fans that they post on said blog, and just last year went on a solely bike powered West Coast tour.

If there was any doubt that Lykke Li was about to make it big, her show this monday at the Highline Ballroom was enough to convert all naysayers. By the numbers: the petite Swede sold out the 700-capacity venue on a Monday night, even with tickets heftily priced at $35. Was it worth the hype? Absolutely. A vision in strobe lights, Lykke performed her songs with an impressive stage presence and a sense of humor guaranteed to catapult her to star status.

What is great about summer besides the weather and all the great summery things is all of those fabulous summer releases. It seems as if there has been an abundance of great music being released these days, so here at Baeble we have had our hands full in sifting through it and picking the 10 tracks for the latest volume in our T.G.I.Mixtape series. We sincerely hope you enjoy it, and have a great weekend.-Greg Lozoff

Some bands like to sing about lofty topics such as angels and God, death and the life pursuit, or at least the hood and the government. Not Art Brut. The modern day's answer to the Modern Lovers' Jonathan Richman, Art Brut frontman Eddie Argos is content to speak-sing about public transportation, comics, chocolate milkshakes, summer jobs, and having songs stuck in your head. However, where Richman was straight-edge and somber, Argos gleefully bookends Art Brut vs Satan with two of the most triumphant hangover songs ever recorded.

School of Seven Bells, the ghostly Brooklyn trio, is named after a fictional South American pickpocket training academy. Perhaps that's where they picked up their deft interplay of meandering melody and ethereal siren song sure to leave you in a trance long enough for them to reach into your skinny jeans and steal your iPod, if they so desired. Personally, I wouldn't mind, as long as they return it full of their music.

With their multi-task handling of both dance pop and indie rock, it's no surprise that we, like many of you, have had Passion Pit's debut Manners continuously pumping on repeat since it was released. Only adding to our addiction is the kid krazy standout track "The Reeling".

There is a lot of rock and roll history flailing about The Band of Skulls' recent new album, Baby Darling Doll Face Honey (Shangri-La). So much so that any foray inside its' trenches will reveal an album that unravels layer by layer. As it plays through, expect to find several generations of music; most notably 70s blues-folk, '90s garage rock, and a more modern style of acoustic-pop.

Wait For MeIt's hard to imagine how Moby could have made "Pale Horses", a track from his upcoming album Wait For Me (Mute), more depressing. But by churning out a video that most closely resembles a Zoloft commercial, he defies the odds.

Loxsly are from Austin, and they sound like it. Like the town's most well known outfit Spoon, these boys play their hand at a slightly be-bopping kind of pop...with absolute ease, no less. But all that's just a finish, see. 'Cause under the band's (mostly) good-natured facade lies plenty of tension flows, and reflexive, if not vulnerable undertones.

In honor of our latest concert release from NYC pop outfit Harlem Shakes, we're giving away a little something-something from the band, courtesy of our friends at Gigantic Music. For a randomly chosen few - three to be exact - Baeble will be dropping a limited edition, 220 gram picture vinyl of the band's rather excellent album, Technicolor Health, in the mail.

For those in the know, Harlem Shakes have been a reliable presence in our local NYC scene for a little while now. Of course doing what we do, we've had the pleasure of bumping into them on a number of occasions over the years...though it'd been some time since last we heard a peep from these promising upstarts. And then Technicolor Health fell into our hands this Spring. Needless to say, we haven't put it down since...

Listening to Technicolor Health, the long-awaited full-length album from Harlem Shakes, is a bit like trying to unwrap a Starburst with your tongue. Sometimes everything comes together in a colorful display of skill, everyone is impressed, and your whole day is made brighter and more delicious. Sometimes something gets tangled, you get overwhelmed by sugar and red #40, and all of a sudden you're trying to tactfully spit out paper without alerting the rest of the partygoers to your predicament. Still, it's irresistible to try.

photos by Sarah Law
Last week Jesse Elliott rolled through our NYC stomping grounds, bringing both his marvelous namesake and brilliant band These United States (Colin Kellogg - Bass, Robby Cosenza - Drums, Justin Craig - Guitars, Tom Hnatow - Multi-Instrumentalist) along for the ride. Having access to such a great band for an afternoon got us thinking...

Everyone's favorite punky, all-girl trio are apparently making plans to make another run at slop rock glory this Fall. That's right. Vivian Girls have just about finished work on their sophomore album, Everything Goes Wrong.

Crossing The Rubicon, The Sounds upcoming album, features eleven upbeat and refreshing songs that captivate the talent of the band.

It is a dark and stormy night; the moon hangs round and heavy over the shadowy alleyways of London where wanton creatures with full red lips hold dominion over Dionysian celebrations. If this kind of alluring nefariousness sounds like your cup of tea, get ready to bare your fangs in delight, because Patrick Wolf has created the most devious of dance parties with his newest album, The Bachelor.

Everyone's favorite Berkeley-based trio Why? is set to drop a third album in the fall, entitled Eskimo Snow. We're hoping this means more of Yoni Wolf's absurdist mumbling, more ill beats, and more "who's on first" style miscommunication about the band name.