We caught Jarrod Gorbel, lead singer of The Honorary Title, as he kicked off his solo tour at The Bowery Ballroom last Friday. Check out pictures from the show below, and keep checking back for details about his forthcoming EP (which includes a duet with one of our favorites, Nicole Atkins, who hit the Guest Apartment earlier this month).

White Lies, the alternative rock group from across the pond, has released their newest album, Ritual. Their debut album, To Lose My Life, was the first British No. 1 album of '09. They quickly gained recognition as the years breakthrough band as they were showered with countless award nominations. While many compared their sound to productions of Britain-past (Joy Division, Echo & the Bunnymen), they adamantly stressed a disassociation from this musical movement. The band, consisting of Harry McVeigh, Charles Cave, and Jack Lawrence-Brown, give their influential credit to Talking Heads. While Ritual does possess its unique musical traits, it's difficult to avoid making the connection to the 80s New Wave.

In the 13th episode of their 36th season, hosted by Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), SNL has at last delivered some legitimately funny skits. Check out some of the sketches that we found most memorable and the performances of Nicki Minaj.

I think we are all tired of hearing about how the Music Industry is a terrible business. I get several email newsletters every day chronicling the steady, downward spiral of the major labels. These emails also report about infringers, pirates and the fact that you need more zeros than most simple calculators can handle to find your percentage royalty share from the much loved and hyped Spotify. Doesn't anyone in the music business talk to people who have been through gut-wrenching changes before in related (or perhaps not related) businesses?

In your new music Monday stream-tacular: popular public provider NPR has the full stream of the new Bright Eyes jam, and we've got the first single from the new Kills record for your listening enjoyment (pictured above in the studio). It's all happening after the jump!

We've got a bit of a mixed bag in Late Night TV this week, as the beginning starts off with some exciting options, but slows down on Thursday and Friday. Well, to be fair, Thursday night is not a total loss: Ricky Martin is on Fallon. I've been hoping my time portal to 1999 would start working!

One of the five pillars of the internet is "art elitism". Another is "painfully cute". One of the only organizations to seamlessly combine the two, time and again, are back with a new video. Staten Island's now world famous P.S. 22 have just released a gut-wrenchingly adorable cover of Pitchfork's best song of the year "Round and Round", and dare I say this version hits home a little more than Ariel Pink's fuzzed-out original, at least in the "awwwwwwwwww!" department.

The name Bob Marley is synonymous with "one love" and other Rastafari ideals of brotherhood, so it's only natural that the release of his last recorded live show (titled Live Forever) comes with a sweet deal that makes us feel like everything is gonna be alright. Music streaming service MOG has an offer exclusively for Baeble readers to check out Live Forever a day before its release, as well as the millions of other songs available in their catalog, absolutely free (with no credit card required) for seven days. Details after the jump.

We're working tirelessly to make sure you are never wanting for different ways to check out our buffet of tasty videos. The latest dish? An app for Google Chrome designed to make video watch easy (in the style of our Google TV channel). Grab the app for free and install at the Google app store.

Hours following The King is Dead's arrival at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 music chart, The Decemberists took the stage at the infamous Beacon Theatre. A historic moment for band members and audience alike, the Beacon was all-too-perfect of a setting for the celebration. The Oregon-based, folk/rock group flawlessly performed an unforgettable set.

It's bizarre how the thought of garage bands beckons 90s nostalgia. This, once revolutionary, movement of independent artists was unconsciously faded out alongside the mall culture. The Los Angeles duo, No Age, continues to embody this legendary sub-genre of rock. Participants in the L.A. art-punk DIY scene, No Age's new video for "Fever Dreaming" gives the, assumed-deceased, style new life. The song is the third track on their most recent album with Sup-Pop Records, Everything in Between.

In their garage dwelling, Dean Spunt and Randy Randall perform their daily routines. Neither hurricane-force winds nor the turbulent West coast tectonics can stop them from creating this reminiscent noise.

We're all excited about the larger-than-life music festival Coachella this year, specifically due to the incredible lineup (one-uping last years Lollapalooza by also having The Strokes, plus Kanye and then some). Recently 3-day passes sold out and some people are pretty bummed, but none of them could possibly be bummed enough to be offering some of the crazy sh*t that is going around on Craigslist. The bartering is not as much of a bummer as it is sexy disturbing.

In the two years since deciding to kill off his music career, Dan Bejar, frontman for Destroyer and part-time New Pornographer, has released two EPs, and now a full length album as well, in addition to his contribution to 2010's Together. Given the man's enigmatic nature, this should probably come as no surprise, and to his credit, the declaration was not made without consequence: both Bay Of Pigs and Archer On The Beach came as radical departures from his work on Trouble In Dreams and before. If any question remained as to whether the change would render the next evolution of the Destroyer project, Kaputt provides the affirmative.

While most of New York was looking up real estate in Southern California, we were busy at work compiling a bunch of songs to put together for you, as we often do. Perhaps not on "tape" in the literal sense, this compilation of seemingly unrelated clips of our iTunes most played of the week will more than likely interest you in one or more different ways. And with the help of artists and other music personalities, WE'VE DONE ALMOST 100 OF THEM! Crazy, right?

After the jump, your weekly fix of new tunes from the folks at Baeble. Enjoy.

Cold War Kids dropped their highly anticipated third album Mine Is Yours a couple days back. Thus far, critique has been a bit mixed, what with the band putting their seedier sounding history on the back burner. In its place is a much more melodic and hooky endeavor; one that, while defying some expectations, will take some getting used to.

While most people spend their nights worrying about the only sure things in life (death, taxes, and another Land Before Time sequel), we keep a shotgun under our bed in case Secretary of Garbage Hats Ke$ha decides to try anything funny. While we were sleeping, dreaming of Arcade Fire/Kanye West collabs, she managed to team up with Funny Or Die for what we're guessing was supposed to be a self-aware bit of poking fun at herself. So it's with a heavy heart, and a bag of our own barf, that we present Ke$ha: The Disney Princess.

"If you do that - I'm warning you, right now! If you touch my drums, I will stab you, in the neck, with a knife!" - Dale Doback

Pasadena band, Apex Manor, have released a video for their song "My My Mind" off of their debut album, The Year of Magical Drinking. This video does exactly what music videos are meant to do. It enhances the story behind the song in an artistic way to express what sound alone did not fully capture. Had MTV not sold their soul to the gremlins of reality television, this is precisely the kind of video that would undeniably find its place within the network's circuits and gain the respect that it deserves. The pain portrayed is absolutely immediate and only swells with the eerie progression of the video. Despite the shock that accompanies the beginning images of Apex Manor's Ross Flournoy holding his heart literally in his hand, the song is soon discovered to be about repair rather than doom and gloom. He pieces together what appear to be happy images of himself with his bloodied hands, and the video achieves a tragic understanding of the pain that comes with memories and loss. "My My Mind" can be found on Apex Manor's debut album, The Year of Magical Drinking, which is out now.

Brooklyn based indie band, Acrylics, has released a video for their song "Nightwatch". Although it does not appear to be a high-production video, the scenic portrayals of running streams and contemplative horses within the woods stand alone in terms of captivating quality. There is an odd combination of sci-fi-like discovery within the background of nature, almost like an indie music video remake of the film, The Island (not to mention the similar all-white outfits donned by both the characters in the film as well as in "Nightwatch"). Acrylics are definitely visual creatures and fans of interpretation, as their listed website is a tumblr blog that only posts abstract seen-on-the-street photos one at a time without description. This sequence of seemingly random depictions is certainly present within this video. It showcases the abstract attitude of Acrylics, which accurately accompanies the tone within the music of "Nightwatch". The video's featured track will be available on Acrylic's March 1st release of their debut album, Lives and Treasure.

Hyped as the chill wave whiz-kid (and living up to it), Chaz Bundick is seeking to further his street cred as electronic artist Toro Y Moi with an album comprised entirely of analog gems. First single "Still Sound" is anything but still; it's a shifty, upbeat bit of moog goodness dripping with retro-flair and spunky bass lines. The video strikes a similar old-school chord, coating Chaz, his band, and a few select (and random) images in fuzzy Super-8 quality. You've never seen an orange cut quite like this on film, unless you lived in the 70s and were into some weird sh*t. Underneath The Pine is out 2/22 via Car Park Records.

Here's a chipper blast of cheer to warm you up on this insanely snow covered afternoon (presuming you live where we live). Shara Worden - aka My Brightest Diamond - recently paired with the chamber ensemble yMusic to record a few tracks for WNYC's Studio 360. This is "We Added It Up"; a giddy nugget that finds Worden going a little goofball for the cameras.

Bleak, moody, and clouted in a tantalizing aura of musical mystery; what's so far emerged from Lykke Li's forthcoming album Wounded Rhymes certainly wraps the stylish bouts of contorting pop she perfected on Youth Novels (and in concert) in a slightly darker package. "I Follow Rivers" is the latest example, exuding tension from the get go with Lykke's deep breaths and a hard hitting percussive pulse. The song brings with it these Tarik Saleh directed visuals, as our Swedish heroine plays the part of a barefoot tracker, ultimately leaving her man with a somewhat menacing reminder that he'll probably never get away from her.

Tracks on a Peter Bjorn and John album are musical fingerprints. Contagiously catchy, their unique songs implant themselves into our hums and whistles (We should know!). In preparation for the release of their newest album, Gimme Some, due out late March, the Swedish trio has given their fans a salivating glimpse of what is yet to come.

Bright Eyes is offering up a track off of their new album, The People's Key, with a free mp3 download of "Haile Selassie". As the track title suggests, the song is an exploration of the Rastafarian movement's idealism, which credits former Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie as their inspiration and leader. Conor Oberst makes the importance of this humanity-driven theme clear within the album, especially through this bluntly named track.

New York City is often the host of sonic breeding for musical creations, and has done so once more with the newest music to come out of Richie James follin, Guards. Last year, Follin returned from a European tour and began toying with the begininngs of what eventually became Guards, which he self-produced, mixed, and recorded. He originally intended for his younger sister to sing the tracks, but it soon became a one-man-band effort with help from some talented friends.

Sam Beams earliest presentation, The Creek Drank the Cradle, was released in 02 and introduced listeners to a gentle, yet vocally charged, representation of Southern folk. Scenically hypnotizing lyrics with minimal recorded treatment helped generate its great popularity. Two years following, Iron and Wine followed up with the release of Our Endless Numbered Days. Beam provided his fans with little disappointment. The studio recording only ripened his vocals. The release of The Shepherds Dog in 07 offered listeners an alternative image of Beam. His music had progressed through his own cultural expansion. Additional instrumental sounds accompanied sweet vocals and his humming acoustic. Although the cynical fan may argue, Beam can do no wrong. His most recent album has once again given audiences a fresh taste of Iron and Wine.

In a Starbucks the other day, hearing brother-sister combo Angus and Julia Stone threw me off a bit. The rather distinct warble of Julia resembles the quixotic timbre of Joanna Newsom (my first guess on the "who is it?" game), but the band's distinctly structured pop novella flows a bit more traditionally than Ms. Newsom's cries for indie glory. The juxtaposition of the two, the chic voice (Angus has some chops as well) and the steady part-writing, makes for a truly unique hit-making machine. So it wasn't much of a surprise to discover the siblings sitting pretty atop Triple J Radio's Hottest 100 this morning. And Twitter has had many, many things to say about it; it was a trending topic earlier today.

In September of 2009, a group of lucky people at The Echo were treated to an interesting live performance by Emily Wells called "Symphony #6: Fair the Well & the Requiem Mix". Featuring a violin, a crooning voice, and raw talent, Emily recorded and mixed the song right there on stage.

For a newcomer, Frankie Rose brings a pretty impressive musical history steeped in bottom of the well, art house noise and more macabre fascinations to her new outfit. Vivian Girls, Dum Dum Girls, The Crystal Stilts; she's been associated with 'em all. So it's no wonder the project that now bears her name brings with it the kind of sound that'll send audio purists running for the hills. This is a good thing. On record, as in her self-titled debut, it can be an ethereal, delicate, and eerie sort of sound...a qualm that sounds like it's wafting down long marble hallways from some dilapidated, Victorian concert hall. Here, in their session captured during our CMJ Rockwood Sessions, it's something more immediate...a rush of electricity, reverb, and a tom tom stomp, suggesting Frankie and The Outs also enjoy a hot and heavy romance with plenty of punk rock nostalgia.

We like music videos. We like lists. We like reminiscing. The Roundup is our newly created way of celebrating such things, with She & Him, Matt & Kim, Noah and the Whale, Sims, and Strand of Oaks taking home honors for the most captivating new music visuals of the week.

Free MP3, indeed. In fact, TEN free MP3s! Canadian three-man-band Ruby Coast is offering up free downloads of every song on their new album Whatever This Is. Sounding a bit like Deathcab for Cutie with a hidden edge ("White Moon" and title track "Whatever This Is") and a quirky version of Rooney with more drawling lyrics that are still just as bitingly catchy (check out "Tuff Luck"), Ruby Coast's beat-driven indie pop/rock has just enough touch of spunk to keep your foot subconsciously tapping all the way through the album. It's fun, it's fresh, and it's free.

Professional interviewers are a bore! All those standard, run-of-the-mill lines of questioning; "What are your influences?", "What do you hope people take away from your music?", Blah blah blah... Well, seems our friends in Blood Red Shoes have grown a bit tired of the standards. So they decided to let their fans fire away on 'em for a little while. The result is this revealing one on one with Laura-Mary Carter and Steven Ansell.

We don't always catch everything the moment it happens...like this video, though shot all the way back in 2005 we're hollaring about it today...cause it's new to us!

Homes break free of their foundations to float towards a distant horizon. A beautiful, blonde, Norwegian model drifts levitated down a country road. This dream is only intensified when accompanied by the smooth, electronic beats of duo Royksopp's single "What Else Is There". Guided by the vocals of Karin Dreijer Andersson (The Knife), Royksopp's new video takes the viewer on a surreal, transcendental journey through the mind of award-winning director, Martin de Thurah. Intensely powerful imagery fused with Royksopp's spellbinding tune results in a true work of art.

Let Me Come Home, the second full-length from the Scottish rock band, Broken Records, is a corrective dose of passion and sincerity. As the title suggests, this is an album about longing for the hearth, but also, the realization that after a life of rootless wandering, you might not know how to get back there.

In the works at AMC is a new series, from creator Scott Rosenberg of Life on Mars, that is being developed to focus on the current turmoil within the music world's shifting structure. Dubbed Man with the Golden Ears, the show will follow the crumbling state of a music executive (Ari Gold's musical avatar) as he desperately clings to a relevant status and simultaneously deals with daughters who sound as delicately wholesome as the Kardashians. Classy touch. For the many who are up in arms with the current state of the music industry, this has the potential to capture an interesting perspective if done right.

It's really, really, REALLY cold in New York this week, so it doesn't come as a surprise to me that Letterman and Fallon are probably in the tropics somewhere as their shows sit in rerun limbo. Thus our plethora of awesome late night sets is a bit reduced this week, but there is hope! Read on, intrepid late night explorers.

In their latest videos, Brit-rockers Noah and the Whale construct a hipster noir Happy Days concert to promote the optimistic smiles and sunshine of their new single "L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.". It's a bouncy number, and the first off their forthcoming third LP Last Night On Earth. The album is said to be heavily influenced by poets like Frank O'Hara and Charles Bukowski, both of whom probably attended couch parties where the lights flicker and the woman dance in Marilyn Monroe wigs. Bop along as the guys wear suits and look as post-modern as possible. Last Night On Earth is out March 15th via Mercury Records.

Luckily there is no censorship in college, where unabridged swearing is accepted and encouraged because we are adults now and we can watch those graphic sex scenes and appreciate them as ART. That is why Anna can get away with signing Cee-Lo Green's aggressively titled song as her final project in an American Sign Language class FOR CREDIT. I can't help but think there are a few jokes in there that we're missing (ironic use of sign phrases in lieu of lyrical material that might be saying one thing but meaning another), but she is obviously our generations Antoine Dodson, so let's eagerly await her Lopez Tonight appearance while she laughs that Youtube view count all the way to the bank. Get on this meme early, sports fans!

IFC is mostly known for its weird movies and Arrested Development reruns (at least according to my usual TV surfing). However due to the recent explosion of original programming on Cable channels being greater than or equal to network offerings, it was only a matter of time before niche original programming showed up on the schedule. Luckily, it's not about vampires, super-heroes, or any of that of-the-moment fanaticism. It's about Portland, the music hub of the Northwest, where the dream of the 90s is alive, according to a character played by Fred Armisen. AND HE TELLS US IN SONG, my second favorite method of communication next to "talking with food". Let's watch!

Following mixed reactions from their 2008 sophomore release, Walk it Off, Tapes 'n Tapes returned to their own self-run label, Ibid Records, for the 1/11/11 release of their 3rd album: Outside. Trying to resurface the band's off-the-cuff approach to their 2005 debut, Loon, Outside tip toes into elements of their early days of reckless abandon. Unfortunately, the album does not seem to carry the same buzz of excitement that drove Loon out of obscurity and into a growing list of up and coming indie bands to watch. Six years later, Outside demonstrates solidarity to sound, but not as much growth. There is an unassuming quality to the happy-go-lucky flavor of the album, but as a whole does not explore much depth or distance between songs. Nonetheless, Outside is one of those albums that, the louder it is, the more is moves you, but has enough calm and structure for background music on a long drive.

I know what you're thinking. Ever since Alien Ant Farm remade Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal", why didn't they base the entire song around battling cello solos?! I know, opportunity missed. But the wait is over, friends, because Stjepan Hauser and Luka Sulic have decided to take this task upon themselves in the middle of a ballroom full of empty red chairs accompanied by a slow motion bar fight. In all seriousness, this cello-off is a YouTube gem in its glory and is just as awesome as it is hilariously dramatic.

As many music fans are probably aware of at this point, major label juggernaut Warner Music Group announced that they are enlisting the aid of investment bank Goldman Sachs to thumb potential buyers for the company and all of its various assets. We've got two dollars in change and a bag of Cheetos.

As you might imagine, a pair of 100 year old twins is a tough act to follow. But The Decemberists took on that quest during last night's Tonight Show with Jay Leno when they performed their single "Down by the Water" off of their new album The King is Dead. Britney Spears may have somehow managed to snag yet another number one on the iTunes' singles chart (though she politely asks you not to hold it against her), but The King is Dead is the number one album on iTunes! Check out their performance last night on Leno here, from our pal Audio Perv:

You might think boxes are just for the poseurs but you'd be very, very wrong. Boxes are so street, they make Jay-Z look like Jay Leno. These guys know what I'm talking about.

Like Baeble fav P.O.S., Sims is a Minnesota based hip hop artist who calls the Doomtree collective home. His second full-length release, Bad Time Zoo, is due February 15th, and brings with it some vengeful visuals in the form of this video for "Burn it Down".

Greenhornes frontman Craig Fox has an extensive and obscure knowledge of sixties rock and pyschadelia. We know this because after he delivered his mixtape tracklist to us, we couldn't find half the songs. Doing the best we could in the digital age, searching for translations of old, obscure vinyl, we had to shorten this mixtape a few cuts. But it's also one of the coolest, most stylized mixtapes we've had since Mixtape 1988. So grab a blacklight, pass the pipe, and enjoy.

"I'll be the first one in the river/And the last one to swim". It's a chorus that gives you a good idea of what this song from Pennsylvanian songwriter Tim Showalter is all about. It's somber and quiet, but eventually boils over with a nice heap of emotion.

Showalter calls his project Strand of Oaks, and he released his take on lonesome, one-man blues last year with an album called Pope Killdragon. If "Last to Swim" is any indication of the album as a whole, it's an intimate and self-confessional kind of portrait. Naturally, the first video would follow suit.

It's happened. It's coming. It's in the oven and nearly ready to be devoured. Prepare yourselves, for after varying side projects from nearly all members of the band, The Strokes have announced their return to a full focus on their band with the March 22nd release of their fourth album, tentatively named Angles. Rolling Stone is featuring an article on the formation of Angles in their February 3rd issue, which is on stands and online today. Discussing the excitement of The Strokes' first full album since 2006's First Impressions of Earth, the article explains the take-it-home attitude of the band's commitment to their own sound. It also explores the devoted inclusion of each individual member, which is something that has been touched upon but not fully represented in the previous albums. The article features members of the band openly admitting to the shortcomings of inter-band politics, but are sure to re-energize with the nearly tangible anticipation of an album that is not only new to our ears, but new to The Strokes.

Fresh from collaborations with an established bundle of musicians, including Arcade Fire's Richard Parry and Aaron Dessner of The National, Little Scream promises to deliver precisely what her name describes. Behind the foreground of soft melodies and wailing whispers of thoughtful lyrics is a hidden force that drives the music into that place in your mind where bunnies are happy and everything looks like a painting. But, of course, these are understatedly edgy bunnies and introspective paintings of mysterious oceans that hold secrets (and that blue diamond the old lady threw into the ocean at the end of Titanic for no reason).

Nathan Williams is occasionally a cool dude, despite his own description of himself as a bit of an a-hole. Evidence includes this free copy of "Mutant", a b-side from a Japanese pressing of his 2010 album King Of The Beach. It will be released as a 7" soon (maybe) according to Williams' blog, where you can grab the MP3 download as well.

Noted Alaskan senator, Tina Fey look-alike and animal killing enthusiast Sarah Palin definitely deserves her own theme song set to "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and performed by two old timers in what looks like a church in Deluth, right? I sure hope so because it's real, and we're about to share it with you.

Fresh from collaborations with an established bundle of musicians, including Arcade Fire's Richard Parry and Aaron Dessner of The National, Little Scream promises to deliver precisely what her name describes. Behind the foreground of soft melodies and wailing whispers of thoughtful lyrics is a hidden force that drives the music into that place in your mind where bunnies are happy and everything looks like a painting. But, of course, these are understatedly edgy bunnies and introspective paintings of mysterious oceans that hold secrets (and that blue diamond the old lady threw into the ocean at the end of Titanic for no reason).

Adam Shenk organically blends neo-soul, R&B and jazz to create his own neo-pop music genre. He is also quite the charmer; as I listened to his unfaltering story, I was immediately transported to his beautiful musical world. Adam considers himself an artist's artist. "I want people to feel it in their soul. I want them to feel like they were a part of the experience; that they weren't just passively watching, but they were into it and kind of right there with me."

Call it chillwave, glo-fi, gltch or bedroom, but it's clear this sub-genre of electronic music is not going anywhere. Florida's MillionYoung, aka Mike Diaz, kicks of 2011 with the latest addition to the canon, his new record, Replicants. With two well-received EP's under his belt, including last years excellent and much more song-focused Be So True, this is Diaz's first swing at a full-length. Replicants, is a bounty of styles and sounds. There are the easily identifiable sheets of wall-to-wall synth, simple muffled beats and murmured, mixed-down vocals that are typical of the genre. But there's also a surprising amount of electric guitar here, as well as some surprising sound inventions, including a comical moment at the very end of the album, in which the music cuts out and it sounds like we're listening to Mike walking around looking for his car keys.

Most hipster feed is processed in Brooklyn, but some of the finer cuts come from the lesser-thought-of "cool kid" borough. Freelance Whales first made our radar when we filmed them (although the show never saw the light of day). We later discovered they hail from Queens and a certain savvy intern was frequenting their record (Weathervanes), so we're still listening. A new song for the price of an email sounds like a great Wednesday deal, no? Let's widget.

It was an interesting juxtaposition that was placed before me last Thursday evening. Streams of red and white light whisking down 59th street lit up most of the big city backdrop. So too did the stacks of glittering penthouses overlooking Central Park, and the plumes of smoke rising from the power plants along the river. Gotham, in all its modern glory, stood proudly before me.

One of our favorite albums saw its long awaited physical release today. Klaxon's Surfing The Void originally hit the web back in August, with a heap of acclaim accompanying it. Now the band are vying for your dollars with an actual physical product, and to incentivize things, they've added a few more songs to the original collection...including a cut from our session with the band!

With Science and Faith, gentle rockers The Script continue to cook candy-cane rock with a fresh batch of single-idea songs that reverberate well with the teenage girl crowd. Not much has changed since 2008's self titled debut, aesthetically or otherwise. But despite simplicity and a mostly made-for-TV view of both love and loss, the optimistic hooks and sap-laden bedside chatter is much more enjoyable than a significant amount of today's popular music. Well-written, hummable, and tightly produced, The Script are the epitome of what modern pop rock should be; less hand-holding Jonas Brothers drivel and more talks of whiskey, loneliness and arguments (however watered down for terrestrial radio those vignettes might be). You can knock the content as too PG for Best Drama contention and too risky for Disney, but the music world isn't a Loews Cineplex. If Jason Derulo is the salted Spam of pop music, these guys are the steak. They're real, textured, and universally consumable.

Their debut album The Big Black and the Blue would never have you believe Klara and Johanna Sderberg are a couple of teenagers, capricious and probably a bit dizzy over the good fortune they've seen come their way over the last year or so. You see, the Swedish sisters can count a host of highly esteemed musicians as fans of their band First Aid Kit. Fleet Foxes and Karin Dreijer Andersson (Fever Ray, The Knife) immediately come to mind...and we're pretty sure our latest segment of The Guest Apartment will make an admirer out of you the moment you dive in to it.

That's because the vocal arrangements that strafe across this performance are so impeccable they sound as if they could only be the product of years of formal training; something classic, and perhaps a bit rigid at times. But our conversations with the sisters reveal a very different ingredient at work here. Joy. It's ripened over time and come of age along with the girls...especially of late, given the kinds of opportunities that are now coming their way. This is folkal music (they'll explain) that brings with it an undeniable amount of magic, and it's one of the reasons we feel very lucky to have snagged some time with a group of musicians we know we'll be hearing from for a very long time to come.

The wintry tones of Swedish folk often comes in surprising packages, like two teenage girls with a penchant for melancholy far beyond their years. Sisters Johanna and Klara are actually delightful in person, despite their chilly caterwaul, so it's no surprise they are eager to provide you with some schwag as an incentive to share their set (not that you need it).

The world is a crazy place, full of mixed up people and misdirected rage and Glenn Beck. We as one nation (under God, or under 'nothing?' as some notable Brits might say, or eventually underwater like Waterworld might say) can't agree on the issues. Healthcare, or guns, or what brand of trash bag Ke$ha is (experts say Hefty, but COULD IT BE GLAD?), Earth is a mixed up place. Just look at Live To Dance. One thing we should agree on is that the world is very cruel to certain peoples based on the color of their skin, or their beliefs, and to counteract that, the US was founded on principals of equality, even if they weren't quite practiced. And a couple decades ago, a very notable man stood up for what he thought was right. Years later we're still not quite at the dream, but the picture is a lot clearer, and it's an official holiday now.

So in the interest of being somewhat reverent, here's a song for the day.

The Brute Chorus are a hard-hitting outfit from London that bludgeon their audiences with a forceful flock of garage, blues, and folk elements. It's a unique, if not slightly disjointed sound that there's no shame in saying takes some getting used to. "Birdman" and the music video that comes with it is a great place to start.

Metric has found a way to keep little bits of music trickling out since the release of Fantasies in '09, and their latest comes in the orchestrated form of their take on Buffalo Springfield's "Expecting to Fly". It's not an obvious choice to cover, but the sentiment suits Metric's always inspirational front woman Emily Haines. Here the accompanying visuals bring with it a haunting sort of quality, with vague images of Haines metaphorically approaching closing doors and stepping off into the ether. The song is taken from the band's recently released iTunes session.

The pop culture pundits will have plenty of material this week. Expect plenty of jabs at Ricky Gervais this week, as he turned most of Hollywood beet red at last nights Golden Globes with his monologue and subsequent insult shenanigans. Also expect a few musical treats, including some Questo commentary on the controversial Pitchfork #1 Ariel Pink, and some Baeble favs like Two Door Cinema Club and Ra Ra Riot. Late night TV: another reason to drink at home (or just to drink).

Man Man frontperson Honus Honus, Islands' Nick Diamonds and Joe Plummer from Modest Mouse are working together as a team called Mister Heavenly, and making some really nifty tunes. Comparisons to Voltron, Megazord, Super Friends, and other nerdy science fiction combination type "super" beings aside, let's just enjoy! With their powers combined, you can grab a couple of their new tracks for the price of an electronic mailing address.

A list of data is roaming around the internet, regarding the sales statistics of Pitchfork's Top 50 albums (according to Nielsen Soundscan). A sum of the list reveals that if you combine the sales numbers of all fifty albums, it's not quite twice the number of times a single someone purchased Dark Horse (the last Nickelback album).

The world is full of silly characters, like Mickey Mouse, and Barney, and RNC Chairmen Michael Steele. But one disc jockey stands apart as a hero for our times, tackling the tough interviews that no one could fathom, like rapper Waka Flocka Flame, or his HR guy, all while maintaining a ghetto-flair that makes the girls from my public high school sound like they went to Oxford. BRAP.

A malfunctioning camera stole the visuals for this one (the photo above is one I snapped during their show at Terminal 5 last year), so a few choice words will have to do. The Rural Alberta Advantage played an early engagement at The Mercury Lounge this past Wednesday, using the cozy occasion to kick the tires on material from their soon to be released album Departing.

Although your life may have drastically changed this week when the internet decided to change your zodiac sign, we're pretty sure no matter what house your moon is in, the mixtape will fill it with awesome sounds. This one's for Ophiuchus.

On his debut recording Boy, Colin Caulfield - aka Young Man - plays a sweet and simple suite of songs. There is the breath of airy vocals that seem to speak to his musical moniker. Colin could easily be the polite, shaggy haired boy you grew up with living next door. His homemade production technique also ushers in a gentle bout of nostalgia. Boy sounds like the product of a too tiny bedroom doubling for a recording studio.

Except our latest concert release suggests that, though Colin obviously spends a good amount of time plugged into Garageband and the like, he also manages to get out, finding the perfect players to help bring his tender tunes alive in a more energetic kind of light...which is precisely what he did when he brought his tunes to our Baeble on the Bowery Showcase this past Fall.

Here, Caulfield and his band shed the silky fragilities of his home recordings for a more robust kind of sound, even using the occasion to showcase some of their more jammy tendencies. If you're familiar with Boy, it's a live performance that might serve to counter expectations. If you're not, well...we're sure this one will have you seeking out a copy of the EP. Either way, we guarantee you'll enjoy this promising new artist captured in the always nurturing environment of a CMJ day party.

A few moments before taking the stage at our Baeble on the Bowery Showcase, Colin Cauldfield and his baby faced band mates caught up with our cameras to discuss their band, Young Man.

Too much of a good thing can freeze your brain (ice cream) or knock you out (whiskey), but you can never have too much of a good music genre. Brooklyn's Dream Diary may make shoegaze that fits right in with contemporaries like Pains Of Being Pure at Heart (and occasionally mimic their moves), but their feet-glued eyeballs and catchy tunes could charm the pants off a never-nude (context).

Hip-hop has been proclaimed dead almost as many times as rock and roll at this point, so when two of the arguably biggest rappers in the game plan on releasing an album together gaudily entitled Watch The Throne, forgive me if I get skeptical that there is really a throne to be had. One of them could even be the best-album-of-the-year toting, off-the-wall rapper/producer Kanye West, it doesn't matter. The lawless rap kingdom doesn't need a king, it needs a revolution. And Jay-Z hasn't exactly been "killing it" as an artist, although his influence and business savvy are not under dispute. So how does the first single "H.A.M." stand up to the hype? Surprisingly well for a "swinging our weight" kind of track, that's for sure.

Superman probably listens to a lot of Nickelback, and Batman definitely switches between Elliot Smith and Beethoven. Spiderman probably listens to the Jonas Brothers. Is it obvious that I've been waiting twenty-nerd years to make a combination comic book/indie music joke (sorry, everyone)? Regardless, we don't have to guess what the Incredible Hulk would be smashing through walls to, because his twitter account is keeping us posted on his Caps-locked thoughts. Don't think Ferrigno could have foreseen this! Here are some highlights:

An important part of recognizing our love of music and cool, crafty things emerging from the hipster borough is also realizing the satirical potential of such interests. Enter Christian Lander, author of the popular tome Stuff That White People Like (pictured above, "Recycling!"), which explores things like Vampire Weekend, hyper-local farming, and brunch. Because Brooklyn's breed of inhabitant known as "The Hipster" is Lander's stereotype just as much as our own, we thought it appropriate to educate our fans about the merits of carrying a moleskin notebook, or going to Vegan restaurants. Let's tour the BK!

As Graham Fisk, the drummer for Apollo Run so eloquently put it: "on a cold winter's eve in December 2010", I met up with the band to talk about all the important things: the Beatles, our love for acapella music, sending their music into space, a shared affinity for the Muppets... Oh yeah, and their group, an act that has been filling up local New York City venues left and right with their soulful infusion of pop, blues, rock, classical and gospel genres, as well as their different musical backgrounds.

Oh Land always makes us think of warmer times, like the day she played a bunch of tunes on our roof. That's why it's fun to hear her musing on something a little closer to home at the moment, "White Nights", the kind we're currently experiencing at our home base. But fret not, the track is tuned up with some knob twisting from Brooklyn electro up-and-comer Twin Shadow. Grab the track below.

It's a familiar story. A songwriter, a guitar, some recording equipment, and miles upon miles of no one... In the contemporary musical climate, stories of cabin folk are obvious and abundant enough. But we're feeling apt to throw another new artist on the pyre; if only for the fact that his music deserves to burn as bright as some of the big names who have come before. Meet James Vincent McMorrow.

Like Bon Iver, to which he will no doubt be likened (this is a very good thing), prolonged bouts of isolation provided the creative catalysis for the self-recorded arrangements of Mr. McMorrow's debut album Early in the Morning to mature. In his case, it was the 5 months he spent in a home along the Irish coastline that provided the opportunity to repel down the depths of his soul...his microphones and instruments serving as his main companions along the journey to the end of the album.

When released expect to hear the loneliness of McMorrow's quarantine hiding between the notes of the record. There are plenty of hushed, acoustic whispers fluttering about; quiet ruminations recorded in the creaky wooden rooms of his homestead. There are also huge harmonic crescendos as well; the contrast creating lots of sonic space for listener's to explore. Who knows how many dusty, sonic trinkets lurk in the darkness of this album.

Today we offer you a chance to begin unearthing them, courtesy of an exclusive video profile of the budding musician. If you like what you hear, be sure to pick up Early in the Morning, due January 25th via Vagrant.

The heart clutching strums of guitar and strong melodic blasts of horns and vocals on Pepper Rabbit's "Harvest Moon" has been a real pull since the band released their Kanine approved debut Beauregard last fall. Perhaps you might remember how we invited the band to stop by our CMJ happenings for a Rockwood Session in October (should have that video for you soon). Now the track gets an inventive set of visuals, courtesy of a story that takes you through "Windows into the Unknown".

Conrad Keely and Jason Reece, known for their work as ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, have been diligently tinkering in the studio, and we're excited to be toasting them at the finish line. We've joined forces with Littlefield in Brooklyn and Superball Music to celebrate the release of Tao of the Dead, the seventh in their already impressive collection of studio albums. This very special event will be the bands only NYC area show until they return in April to kick off their co-headlining tour with Surfer Blood at Bowery Ballroom. It's an opportunity for fans to catch the band in an intimate setting and get to view the incredible artwork of Trail's own Conrad Keely. Not only will Keely be displaying original art from the new album, he'll also be debuting two large scale paintings. UPDATE: Also featuring a performance from Brooklyn's Takka Takka.


We invite you to buy some tickets and share the news with your friends for a chance to win some guest passes to the event. Details after the jump.

For those in need of a catchy tune or a smile: Kate Nash recently hopped the pond to deliver some poignant pop-thoughts on love, life and romance for us at Rockwood Music Hall. Know a friend who could use the same? Share the show with a friend in the usual style and you could win a copy of My Best Friend Is You, and a Kate Nash poster. Details below!

Often on record Kate Nash seems like she's fighting and flailing about in some fantastic gale of mood and emotion. Sometimes the house is coming down; her man is leaving, he's messed up, he fancies another, etc etc. On other occasions, she's held up in her haven just fine, penning creative little love notes to a new friend she's been spending whatever time she can find with. Either way, Nash is no refugee. Whether it's the crowns or calamities of everyday life, she sticks it out, documenting the whole process in the name of the pesky, self-confessional pop throwbacks she's filled two albums with (Made of Bricks, My Best Friend is You) thus far.

Brought to town for a couple of massive, headlining engagements, Kate Nash recently found time to make herself at home at Rockwood Music Hall in this latest segment of The Guest Apartment. Here, the charming dynamics of her personality seem a little less extreme and/or exaggerated. She seems comfy and at ease, opening up about family, her new album, and her recent rediscovery of playing live (she took a break between albums). She also shows off a couple of her band members, outfitting "Do-Wah-Doo", "Later On", and "I Hate Seagulls" in more intimate, acoustic threads, offering yet another side of this fascinating, musical personality in the process.

jj takes the typical mixtape ideology of borrowed beats and new lyrics and gives it a decidedly "twee-as-f*ck" twist. On their Kills mixtape, the group takes well known rap lyrics and instrumentals, and couples it with their very specific aesthetic via rerecorded vocals. The result is something surprisingly fresh for what on paper sounds egregiously pretentious. The combination of jj's pleasant voices, coupled with the familiar beats, makes most of the tape a compelling listen. Although it's easy to tune out when the familiar fades into reverberated a cappella and/or obscure radio clips, the flow always returns to something known and noddy.

"So It Goes" is the first single from Akron/Family's new album S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT. Word is the song is about a journey home for a heart turned cold; the result of a discovering that simple kindness and sincerity is often returned with suspicion and cynicism. I suppose the video suggests that place is the internet.

Some of you may have noticed the video pages on our site have undergone a dramatic revamp in structure and presentation. The Concerts, Guest Apartments, Music Videos, and Interviews sections of Baeble are all set up to make it easier for you to see what's trending with users and what's playing from our back catalog, as well as what new to our collection.

The gloves are coming off this week! Unfortunately we're still waiting for Last Call to return with its longer form shows and impeccable taste, but the rest of the late night crowd seem to be slowly picking up steam with new music. Monday night is BUSY. Although we lose steam as the week goes on, it's cool, Fallon picks up the slack.

Akin to their fan-made Prague show, a bunch of die-hards documented a Radiohead show in LA. The concert was a benefit for Haiti, and the makers of the film encourage anyone watching/downloading to donate to the cause via their website. You can also watch it on the Youtube below.

Like the piecemeal nature of the glitchy, electronic constructions they create, Mount Kimbies video for "Before I Move Off" incorporates an impressive collection of snapshots, depicting a wealth of faces and places to tell a rather endearing travelogue of sorts as it ticks along. Feels good...

The most important development in new music of 2011 has come from Josh Groban, who took a break from wooing housewives to develop a new project. He wrote a song for each of Kanye West's tweets. Watch a preview below. This is not a joke.**

Adele has an early hit on her hands with "Rolling In The Deep", that's no mystery. So it makes sense that the remixers will come a calling, but why in the world they let Jamie XX, also known as "the guy who not-so-emphatically presses drum machine buttons" in The XX, take a crack at it?

A three-piece Welsh outfit, The Joy Formidable point their guitars towards the stratosphere, carving soaring alt anthems of a mostly straightforward manner. The track here is called "Austere"; just one of eight from their current album release A Balloon Called Moaning. It brings with it this breakthrough video. See, the band lurks somewhere in this hyper colored canvas, slowly managing to free themselves as the video unfolds. Breakthrough!

Brit pop legend Jarvis Cocker recently joined creative forces with two of the most exciting and innovative French producers -- Pentile and Pilooski, both collectively known as Discodeine -- to make the single and video for "Synchronize".

It's snowing in New York, but no matter where you hang your headphones, the mixtape will keep you warm (or chill?). It's the first mixtape of 2011, and even more exciting, pretty soon we'll be celebrating our hundredth collection of Friday-friendly tunes. Hard to believe we've been doing it for this long, but it's also hard to believe a lot of things, like the recent strange string of mass animal deaths, and the existence of Paula Abdul's Live To Dance. So let's forget all that and mellow out. PLAY BUTTON.

It's important to remember that making music can be a goofy thing, and watching people dance while making music in acceptable lighting with NO LASERS tends to be even goofier (unless you are Thom Yorke). That being said, Clytem Scanning does make a somewhat compelling collection of noises and beats in this video she sent us, and some further digger shows she is a legit recording artist. But visually speaking, "raw" isn't the first word that comes to mind while watching her dance around a well-lit bedroom. French experimental electronic fusion does not mix well with static images of bedrooms and outfit changes.

Between Twitter, Google News, and the age of information regurgitation it's been said and said again and again quite a few times in the past twenty-four hours. Nikolai Fraiture, also known as the bass player for the somewhat well known rock act The Strokes has pseudo-confirmed the band is shooting for a March release date. Strokes IV as its known by the hype, or Let's Get Paid! as I've been calling it, is one of the most anticipated releases of 2011, despite having no title, no crappy Youtube previews, and most importantly, having Casablancas admitting that they are basically doing it because the label offered them a ludicrous amount of money. But hey, it's a new Strokes album! A band that is so awesome, their press photos only look right in black and white.

Our latest video from the Rockwood Sessions features an invigorating jolt of piano pounding pop, courtesy of DC/Philly/Brooklyn (?) based three piece Jukebox the Ghost. Here, the band filter out the fuzz of their latest album Everything Under The Sun, scaling "Empire", "Half Crazy", and "Schizophrenia" down into their most melodious morsels. Scrumptious. Cut between the performances Ben, Tommy, and Jesse share their confusing Mid Atlantic roots, touch on a few of their diverse influences, and discuss realizing Everything Under The Sun.

Oh did Justin Townes Earle storm Letterman last night, serving up a sanctifying live version of "Harlem River Blues"; the title cut from his most recent album. As per usual, our man outfitted him in some rather dandy threads, and surrounded himself with a ripping collection of musicians. Have a look below. I think Dave dug it.

Enough with the 2010 retrospectives! We've spent the last few weeks reflecting on the year that was...an insanely rewarding activity of course, but not nearly as exciting as peering into the great unknown that is 2011. What's cool too is not all of it is unknown. There are plenty of artists gearing up to have themselves a rather massive upcoming year. So without further ado, we bring you 10 artists we're particularly st(r)oked to hear from over the first bit of the new year.

Local Natives got the nod of approval from Questlove last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, where they performed "Wide Eyes" for the billionth time (somehow retaining all of its charm, even after all this time). Check out the performance and get psyched for what 2011 might hold for the promising LA collective, beyond a fresh set of v-necks and some new (but still wacky) facial hair.

In case you just noticed Natasha Bedingfield at Rockwood Music Hall, we've got some good news. We've extended the chance to win a copy of her album by sharing the show on a certain popular social networking channel. Make it your New Years resolution to finally win some Facebook Hookup swag.

Japanther may label themselves as "pop punk", but the unwieldy riot of a crowd at Monday night's Big Apple Circus at Lincoln Center decided to drop the polite pop moniker for something more like anarchy. Moshpits in the center ring and rampant disregard for "the man" led to the show being shut down numerous times, and our own former intern getting Tweet-quoted on Brooklyn Vegan this morning.

Eminem, the prince of pissed, usually has something melancholic/angry to say. Some might even say it's his shtick. On his latest track, a rumination on the death of his collaborator and friend Proof, it's more of the same. "Difficult" appeared on Spin yesterday and although depressing, it's nice to know Em intends to continue being part of the rap conversation more than every four years (and with more feeling, and less drugs).

In case you were worried there weren't enough great songs leftover from 2010 to discover, singer/songwriter/tattooed man James Nyte has just the stuff for you. This guy has everything; floating keyboards, a shirt tied around his waist, galaxy backdrops, sensitivity, YOU NAME IT. You're about to get lost in a dreamworld of yikes.

The outskirts of Oberhofer's lo-fi, bedroom creations come course in make-up. There's heaps of helpless yelping and devil-may-care fretwork encasing most of what the young Brooklyn outfit does...like some mossy blanket of electric fuzz. But it's slop that's an offshoot of a more euphonious core, and if you slurp up our latest live concert offering from the band, we guarantee you'll be putting back your recommended daily allowance of melodious nourishment in the process.

See, you'll hear it in the "oohhs" and "ahhs" of songs like "o0O0o0O0o" and "I Could Go As Well". It shuttles about in carefree whistling and glockenspiel passages. And then there's the personality at the helm of the outfit...Brad Oberhofer providing deadpan observations in the crevices that lie between songs. Like the sweet shot of nectar that it is, our latest concert release features gobs of home style pulp for a sweet and sugary finish. We suggest handling in multiple servings, daily.

The Oberhofer boys spin tales of spills over Niagara Falls, inspirational alien abductions, and well...feminism (duh!) in this peculiar conversation with the Brooklyn outfit before their CMJ performance at Baeble on the Bowery this past October.

The Fall, the latest "album" by Damon Alburn's shape-shifting Gorillaz project, was recorded entirely on an iPad and released for free. That in itself might discredit its value for some fans, but it shouldn't; recalling a time before the fanfare of guest rappers and vocalists, Gorillaz is at its very core, an electro-carnival, hosted by Albarn's iconic voice. The Fall is just that (and nothing else), and it is reminiscent of the first self-titled album and everything that helped the world fall in love with these cartoon characters in the first place.

Swedish duo JJ source electro-bliss from material by T.I. and Akon in this chilly little nugget from their recent mixtape Kills. The Christmas Eve release is available FOR FREE over at their Sincerely Yours site, and the band was kind enough to put together this religious tinted video for "Let Them" in support.

It's back to business for our favorite suit clad gentleman of the evening, peddling topical humor, sight gags, iconic goofy voices, and musical performances from all over the spectrum. Plenty of familiar names and faces, as 2011 releases haven't quite injected the circuit with new tunes... but we're not complaining.

Jay-Z is no stranger to Vegas, as evidenced by the pic of him above, performing at The Palms in 2007. "Homecoming", the star-studded track from Kanye's album that year (Graduation) has never been performed live with all of it's parts... until now. It all went down at a co-headlining performance by Jay-Z and Coldplay at the Sin City hotel Cosmopolitan last night; Hov invited a jean-jacket clad Kanye to join him on-stage in Vegas with Chris Martin to sing the refrain. Beyonce and John Mayer also made appearances, making this the new most expensive guest list of 2011 (speculation). Watch the performances after the jump.

Colin Meloy and his merry band of seafaring warblers (known by most as The Decemberists) embody a pretty specific aesthetic, no matter what kind of theatrics they are peddling (from sea shanty to "Metal" rock opera). So it shouldn't come as much of a shock that their new tunes, despite being a reported departure from British folk to American roots, sound suspiciously like everything else they've ever made. But we like what they make, so, good! Let's listen.

The ball dropped in Times Square, ushering in a new, futuristic sounding year (wasn't 2011 the time period of Mega Man X or something?), but between Lady Gaga tweeting her butt and big songs leaking online, it's looking a lot like 2010. Wait, Justin Timberlake?